The 20-second barrier in the 200m is one of the defining marks of world-class sprinting – a threshold that few ever cross. Now for the first time in history, an Australian has done it.
Teenage sensation Gout Gout has become first ever Australian to achieve the feat, stopping the clock at a wind-assisted 19.98 (+3.6) in the Under 20 200m final of the Queensland State Championships, only hours after turning heads with a world-leading time of 20.05 (+1.2) in the heats.
Speaking after the final, Gout said he went through the full spectrum of emotions throughout the course of the race, from feeling flat after a shaky start to pure ecstasy at the finish line.
“I had an unsteady start, and to be honest, after that I didn’t really feel like running,” Gout said.
“But it felt pretty good. I came off the bend and I just kept sending it. I felt the wind behind me, so I was like, let me just use it. And then I saw the clock, and when it got rounded down (to a sub-20 time), I just couldn’t be happier.”
Breaking the elusive 20-second barrier is a landmark moment in sprinting, and one that less than 140 athletes in history have experienced under any condition. Gout is just the seventh Under-20 athlete to break that barrier.
For the Ipswich Grammar School student coached by Di Sheppard, it was more than just a time, it was a moment of freedom.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
The crowd at the Queensland Sport and Athletic Centre played its part in pushing Gout to history, something he reflected on after the race.
“It feels great because I’ve been at that stage, watching Usain Bolt on the news and just getting goosebumps. Giving people goosebumps, it definitely feels great and I wish I can continue giving people more goosebumps that’s for sure,” Gout said.
“In my heat, there was no crowd, so when I came out (for the final) from warming up, I looked up behind me and there was this huge crowd. It just helps me fun faster, for sure.”
Gout’s 20.05-performance from his heat now stands as the fastest legal time in the world this year, and only 0.01-second off his own Australian record, proving that the 17-year-old is more than just a rising talent, but a serious contender on the world stage.
With the Tokyo World Athletics Championships qualifying mark of 20.16 well behind him twice this season, Gout will now turn his attention to Oceania’s one and only World Athletics Continental Tour Gold level meet, the Maurie Plant Meet – Melbourne at Lakeside Stadium on March 29.
Tickets to the Maurie Plant Meet – Melbourne can be purchased HERE.
By Sascha Ryner, Australian Athletics
Posted: 16/3/2025
Photo and quotes with thanks to Casey Sims / Oceania Athletics
