"I felt literally free"- Gout Gout makes his feelings known after running the fastest 200m of the year

The rising Australian sensation, sprinter Gout Gout, recently reached another remarkable accomplishment during the Queensland State Championships heats. The sprinter shared his thoughts on running the 200-meter with a world-leading time.

At the Queensland Athletics Championships 2025, Gout Gout recently won the under-20 100m title and clocked the race in 10.38 seconds amidst breezy and wet weather conditions. While running in the 200-meter heats, the prodigy surpassed his Australian record and concluded the race in 20.05 seconds.

The Australian, who is globally hailed as the emerging sprinting prodigy, shared his thoughts on running the fastest 200 meters. He said, as per the Australian Athletics via CNN:

“I felt literally free. I had 80 metres left to go and I thought, let’s send it, and only from then did I believe I had a chance of going sub 20. Seeing the clock, I was really happy and surprised in a way, but it just felt like a weight off my shoulders. Now that I’ve done it, I’ve just got to do that more consistently.”

Gout Gout won the 200-meter with 19.98 seconds in the final race; however, because of the legal wind conditions, this time will not be considered an official record. He has become the first Australian to break the 20-second barrier.

His race recorded the wind-assisted time of +3.6 m/s, and as per the rules, only below +2 m/s is accepted in order to be considered for the record.

Gout Gout reflects on his thoughts of being an idol to the younger generation

Gout Gout at the Queensland Athletics Championships - Source: Getty

At the Australian All Schools Championships, Gout Gout etched his name in the track history by breaking 56-year-old Peter Norman’s record in the 200m with 20.04 seconds.

During his appearance on the “Beyond The Records” podcast with Olympic champions Noah Lyles and Grant Holloway, the young sprinter shared his thoughts on being an idol to the upcoming generation. He mentioned:

“It crosses my mind sometimes for sure, like just me being me and thinking about how people are quite literally looking up at me and trying to be me sometimes. And it's crazy to think about because I was once that kid trying to be the next Noah Lyles, trying to be Usain Bolt, trying to be the next icon. And me being the next icon is definitely surreal and it's crazy for sure,” he shared. [18:39 onwards]

The nathlete holds the Australian and Oceanic records in 200 meters and has signed a multi-year deal with elite German athletic brand, Adidas. He also won a silver medal in the 200m at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships.