Gout Gout dips under 20 seconds for 200m with illegal tailwind
Gout Gout has broken 20 seconds for the 200 metres, but his time will not stand as a national record due to an illegal tailwind.
Gout, competing in the men’s under 20 final at the Queensland Athletics Championships in Brisbane, ran 19.98 seconds with the assistance of a 3.6-metre per second wind.
A wind reading of 2.0m/s or under is needed for a time to be declared legal.
It is the fastest 200m run in all conditions internationally this year, although most Northern Hemisphere-based athletes are yet to begin their outdoor campaigns.
It is the second-fastest time in all conditions run in Australia, behind Namibian four-time Olympic silver medallist Frankie Fredericks who posted 19.92 seconds in 1999.
Gout, 17, had earlier run a legal world lead with a time of 20.05 seconds (+1.2m) in the heats, just outside his Australian record.
He broke Peter Norman’s 56-year-old national record last December when he stopped the clock in 20.04 seconds at the Australian All School Athletics Championships in Brisbane.
Norman ran 20.06 when he claimed silver at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
“At the bend I thought I can really send it,” Gout said.
“I was happy and surprised but I feel a weight off my shoulders.”
Gout celebrates his performance after breaking 20 seconds in all conditions for the first time. (AAP: Jono Searle)
While still a Year 12 student at Ipswich Grammar, Gout already has a sense of the electricity he is pumping through track and field.
The typically-sparsely populated grandstand at the QSAC track was packed with families wanting to see their home-grown idol.
“It feels great because I’ve been at that stage watching people like Usain Bolt, getting goosebumps,” Gout said.
“For me to give people goosebumps feels great.”
Gout had claimed several Australian age group records over the 100m and 200m prior to breaking Norman’s long standing national mark.
He became a social media sensation even to casual observers of athletics who have gorged on viral videos of his track success over the past two years.
In January, Gout spent time training with Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles in the United States.
The Queensland-based athlete is coached by Di Sheppard, who first spotted her charge when he was in year seven.
Gout will have the chance to break 20 seconds for the 200m legally when he competes at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne on March 29.
He is also expected to contest the Australian Athletics Championships in Perth next month.
Gout has also agreed to run in the 143rd edition of the Stawell Gift on grass over the Easter weekend.
ABC/AAP
