Gout Gout sets world-leading 200m time at the Queensland Athletics Championships

Sprint sensation Gout Gout, who is also recognised as Australia’s fastest man over 200m, stole the spotlight at the Queensland Athletics Championships with a world-leading run that left the crowd truly amazed. 

Gout first raced through the under-20 heats, finishing with a final time of 20.05 seconds, the fastest 200m time in the world for 2025 across all ages. The 17-year-old beat the previous record of 20.13 seconds set by Zimbabwe’s Makanakaishe Charamba in Texas last month. 

The sprint star then broke the 20-second barrier for the first time in the U20 200m final, posting a wind-assisted 19.98 seconds. Despite the false start, Gout set an incredible time, which was ruled illegal due to a +3.6m/s tailwind. Still, it remains the fastest 200m by an Australian in any conditions and the sixth-fastest ever by an U20 athlete. 

With this feat, the athlete admitted: “At the bend I thought I can really send it… I was happy and surprised but I feel a weight off my shoulders.”

Making history 

Gout dominated the 200m heat with a legal wind of +1.2m/s, finishing just 0.01 seconds off the national record he set at the same venue last December. His time of 20.06 seconds was slightly off his personal best of 20.04s (+1.5m/s), but it still broke the Australian record previously held by Peter Norman for 56 years after he ran 20.06 seconds at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. 

Impressively, Gout is now getting closer to Usain Bolt’s fastest 200m time at the same age, which is 19.93 seconds. The athlete, who turned 17 in December, had already beaten Bolt’s 16-year-old best of 20.13 seconds when he broke the national record last year. 

Gout said: “It feels great because I’ve been at that stage watching people like Usain Bolt, getting goosebumps… For me to give people goosebumps feels great.”

A social media post by World Athletics stated: “HERE’S NO STOPPING HIM 😤 17-year-old @gout.goutt runs a world-leading 20.05 in the 200m heats at the Queensland Athletics Championships⚡ He then storms to victory in the final with a wind-assisted 19.98 (+3.6m/s) – breaking the 20-second barrier for the first time 🔥 That’s the fastest 200m ever run by an Australian in any conditions 👀”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by World Athletics (@worldathletics)