By Michael Gleeson
Brisbane: Gout Gout was never not going to win, running against Australian schoolboys just months after coming second to the best in the world.
But this wasn’t about whether he’d win. This was about what time the schoolboy star could run. And his time in a heat on day one of the Australian All Schools Championships in Queensland was simply breathtaking.
Gout missed his start and still ran 10.04 seconds for the 100 metres to win the under-18 race easily. Unfortunately, the tailwind had gusted up and was too strong (+3.4 metres per second) for it to be considered a legal time.
For the final, two hours later, the wind had dropped and Gout broke yet another national 100m record when he ran 10.17s and bettered Seb Sultana’s time of 10.27s. Gout now has the under-16 and under-18 records in both the 100 metres and 200 metres, and has his sights on setting under-20 and open-age records in both at some point. He’s still only 16.
Gout said his stunning 10.04s run had forced him to recalibrate his timeframe around when he expects – not hopes – to break the 10-second barrier for the 100m.
“Honestly, when I got out it didn’t feel fast. It felt smooth, it didn’t feel fast, but in my head I knew that smooth is the new fast,” he said.
“I didn’t know what the wind was when I crossed the line, so I was pretty excited [when I saw 10.04s], then I got told [about] the wind and I was like, ‘I am still excited’, but it definitely hurt a bit.
“If I can run that with a tailwind, I can definitely run that with no wind – [I’m] just waiting for the day. I am after the under-20 record and [the] open record.
“I always knew I could push sub-10 [seconds] – I didn’t think it would be so soon, but I guess I keep doing what I do.”
That the wind gusted up to an illegal one for the heat was inconsequential – especially for a young runner. Gout still had to roll his legs over at that pace. He now knows he can get his body down the track at that pace.
Patrick Johnson remains the only Australian to legally break the 10-second barrier when he ran 9.93s in Japan in 2003.
Australian sprint star Rohan Browning, an Olympic semi-finalist, has a personal best of 10.01s. He broke 10 seconds when he ran 9.96s for the 100m at Wollongong in 2021, but he, too, had an illegal tailwind that day (also +3.4), so the time was not official.
Gout will run the 200m in Brisbane on Saturday.
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