17-year-old Gout Gout makes a surprising revelation about being inspired by Peter Norman to break National record

Australian teen sprinting sensation Gout Gout is one of the most promising young sprinters in the world of track and field. Recently, the 17-year-old opened up about his journey, and how Peter Norman inspired him to aim for the 200m Australian record.

In late 2024, Gout competed at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championship, where he clocked 20.04s in the 200m final, setting a new Australian national record. The previous record was a 20.06s set by Olympic silver-medalist Norman.

In a recent appearance on the ‘Beyond the Records’ podcast hosted by Noah Lyles, Grant Holloway, and Rai Benjamin, Gout Gout revealed how the Australian legend inspired him to aim for the 200m national record saying (at 17:25),

“There is a documentary/movie on Peter Norman. I remember watching it in English class and then obviously I'm doing track and field at that time, so I'm like ‘that’s the record I gotta beat’. So that was basically a year prior to me beating the record. So I'm thinking about that, like ‘this is amazing’.”

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Gout Gout reveals why the 200m is his favorite event

In Picture: Gout at the 2024 Chemist Warehouse Australian All Schools Athletics Championship (Image Source: Getty)

Gout Gout first made waves in the world of track and field in 2022, when he clocked a time of 10.57s in the 100m aged just 14. In April the following year, the sprinter displayed his versatility, clocking an Australian under-18 men's 200m record of 20.87s at the Australian Junior Athletics Championships.

Since then, he has gone on to register a new personal best of 10.17s in the 100m, setting a new Australian U18 record in the event. He has also set the national record in the 200m, and won a silver in the distance at the World U20 Championships.

Despite excelling in both the 100m and 200m distances, Gout recently revealed that he favours the 200m distance. In his appearance on the ‘Beyond the Records' podcast, he said (at 4:14):

“I mean knowing me, I'm not really a power athlete. I reckon, 100m obviously the best (event), but 200m, it's very spicy, you know what I'm saying. Like you got (to have) a good start, but you gotta have that top end speed and that's where I'm at. So, the 200m, you get that flick of the bend into that top end speed and you're just flying. I love that feeling for sure, so that's why 200m is my favorite event.”

Gout Gout enters 2025 with the label of ‘world's fastest teenager'. He is yet to begin his season, but has already revealed that he hopes to compete against Noah Lyles at the Tokyo World Championships later this year.