Gout Gout runs 200m in 20.04 seconds, smashes 56-year-old record of Peter Norman

Gout Gout made it to the history books at just 16 years of age when he ran 200 metres in 20.04 seconds at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championship in Brisbane on Saturday.

The Australian sprinter, who had almost broken the records in 100m a day before, broke the record of Peter Norman (20.06) to become the fastest athlete from the country to run 200 meters. Norman had set the record in the 1968 Olympic Games.

“It’s pretty crazy,” said Gout. “Right now I can’t process it, but I guess tonight when I go to bed, I’ll think about it. These are adults. And me, I’m just a kid, and I’m running them (down)

“I’ve been chasing that record, but I didn’t think it would come this year. I thought it’d come maybe next year, the year after that.”

The son of migrants from war-torn South Sudan, Gout lives in the Queensland town of Ipswich just down the road from Brisbane, where the Olympics will be held in 2032 when he is 24.

ALSO READ: Norwegian decathlete Skotheim wins International Fair Play Award for unselfish act at Paris Olympics

Gout, who will turn 17 later this month, has next targeted breaking the 10-second barrier in the 100 and the 20-second mark in the half-lap race.

“I’ve always done what I said I would,” Gout added on Saturday. “So if I said something, it’s on my mind, and I’m pursuing it until I get it.”

(with inputs from Reuters)