At the Australian Athletics Championship, athlete Gout Gout of Australia showcased exceptional performances in the U20 100-metre event, where he clocked a wind-assisted 9.99 seconds in both his heat and final runs.
In his preliminary heat, the athlete went under the 10-second mark for the first time in his career. However, the time won’t be officially recognised because of a strong tailwind of 3.5 metres per second, which is beyond the allowed limit of 2.0 m/s for record purposes.
Moreover, the 17-year-old athlete once again matched his outstanding 9.99-second time in the final of the U20 100 metres, just two hours after his preliminary run.
Unfortunately, his record won’t be recognised due to a tailwind that measured 2.6 metres per second. For a sprint time to be accepted and recorded, the assisting wind must not exceed 2.0m/s.
“Sometimes it’s frustrating but you can’t control what you can’t control,” Gout said after the final… The wind is obviously the thing you can’t control. You’ve just got to learn to run with it or against it.”
This feat, though unrecognised, still marked an exciting milestone for Gout’s rising career. He admitted that simply proving that he could run under 10 seconds, regardless of the wind conditions, gave him confidence in the sport.
Gout added: “It feels pretty good, I mean that’s the things you hope for… I said I’d get sub-10 and it happened now, so I’ve just got to keep doing it.”
On breaking records
With Gout’s recent performances, he may beat the long-standing national record of 9.93 seconds by Patrick Johnson in 2023.
Aside from Gout, the record might even be beaten by Lachlan Kennedy in the open men’s 100 metres who achieved a personal best of 10.03 seconds.
Both athletes will take on the open-age 200 metres in Perth. They have already faced off in this event earlier this season, where Kennedy won at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne. In this competition, Kennedy narrowly won against Gout, setting up a thrilling rematch in Perth.
In a social media post, World Athletics shared: “SUB 10 ‼️… 🇦🇺’s @gout.goutt runs 9.99 (+3.5) in the 100m heats, then backs it up with another 9.99 (+2.6) to win the U20 title at the Australian Athletics Championships 😤… His first time ever under 10 seconds and he does it twice in one day 💪”
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Netizens offered their congratulations in the comments section. One netizen remarked: “Not a legal sub 10 but he did really well!”
Another netizen said: “Wow. What a star. Gout Gout is good good.”
More netizens stated: “Pretty pretty pretty good 👍”, and “His running style reminds me of Bolt 👏👏👏 🇯🇲”
