Bolt’s records used to be like those carved in stone and thrown into the bottom of the ocean. You just knew they were there. And catching them up was something next to impossible. This was until the Aussie sprinter Gout Gout powered to 20.04, clocking over 200m at the Australian All Schools Championships in Brisbane in 2024. In the process, he broke Usain Bolt’s world age-16 best (20.13), set in 2003. Ever since then, the man has been a sensation.

Recently, he was a rocket at the 128th Queensland Athletics Championships held in Brisbane. It’s a win now broken down by track and field legends.

In the recent episode of Ready Set Go that aired on March 19, 2025, Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green discussed the Australian sensation. Talking of his performance in Brisbane Green said, “he is the first Australian to sub 20 seconds in all conditions. I was happy for him. He was he wished that it was wind-legal but the wind didn’t permit for it was just a little bit over the allowable but he is the first Australian with sub 20 seconds uh in all conditions.”

Gout is the first Australian athlete to run 200m under 20 seconds in every condition, even though his 19.98 seconds in Brisbane didn’t count as a record. What’s also interesting is he had no competition. The man’s literally gone with the wind!

Gout defeated his opponents by 2 seconds, a solid time in track and field and it felt like a century to Rodney. Talking of Gout’s domination in the championship, Justin pointed out, “They weren’t even in the screen like they when the TV was panning and you was watching him pull away from the field like he just was in the in the screen by himself.”

The Olympian also felt that Gout and his opponents are not on the same level, citing, “he’s on a different level than those kids that’s all it is man.” What also worried Gatlin was Gout’s future. 

Pointing out how the 17-year-old has been annihilating all competitions across the county, the four times world champion asked his podcast partner, “Do you put him on a more international schedule to where he can race other athletes of his caliber and he will be in that season to be able to race them, you know what I’m saying, like or do you just kind of let him be the king of his own domain,” Gatlin highlighted.

The 40-year-old said, “I think he’s going to kind of take the Quincy route. He’s going to run some of his age group and then some meets where he could jump into a pro race” The concerns are genuine cause racing with the people who can’t catch up to him is not going to help the athlete.

Unfortunately, his current competition remains that. Plus, we saw what transpired during the 128th Queensland Athletics Championships.

Gout Gout missed getting closer to Bolt

The 17-year-old was crazy fast in the 128th Queensland Athletics Championships. Firstly, he won the 100m title, clocking a final time of 10.38 seconds. And on the very next day racing in the 200m heats, the track and field star clocked a 20.05 with a wind assistance of +1.2m/s, which remains the fastest any athlete has run in 2025 as of March 19.

It’s also a new world-leading men’s 200m mark, but that’s not it. The Australian was not even a second away from Bolt’s record.

Significantly, Bolt set the record for the fastest 200m (19.19 seconds) in 2009 at the World Championships in Berlin. In the 200m final at the Queensland Athletics Championships, Gout Gout clocked a wind-assisted 19.98. It’s something that could have brought him even closer to Bolt’s record.

But wind assistance is the keyword here.

Record attempts are only valid if the wind assistance is less than +2 m/s. Gout’s wind assistance was +3.6m/s. Yet, the effort was not in vain.

Not only did he win the 200m title, but he also ran faster than any Australian ever has under any condition whatsoever. So keep your ears and eyes wide open. Gout Gout continues to improve. At this rate, we might see him in LA 2028!