Gout Gout retains Australian junior 100m title but misses sub-10 mark
Teenage sprinter Gout Gout has retained his under-20 100m title at the Australian Junior Championships in Brisbane, clocking 10.21 seconds to secure victory while missing out on a sub-10 time.
The 18-year-old recovered from a sluggish start to surge clear of the field with a legal +0.5m/s tailwind.
He comfortably finished ahead of rivals Zavier Peacock and Uwezo Lubenda to claim his second consecutive national age-group crown.
Showboating for the home crowd
The local favourite even found time to wave to the supporters as he approached the finish line.
“My family is here somewhere so I was waving to them, my friends and a couple of the fans.”
He admitted his opening phase of the race was far from ideal and hindered his pursuit of a faster time.
“I didn’t have the best start. I couldn’t tell you why.”
“The coach could probably tell you. I came out for the ‘W’ pretty much and put on a show for the people watching.”
Landmark 200m performance
This weekend’s victory comes less than a week after the highly-rated sprinter made history at the senior Australian Athletics Championships.
He delivered an outstanding 19.67s run in the 200m to become the first Australian man to break the 20-second barrier.
That achievement set a benchmark faster than eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt managed at the same age.
Chasing the elusive 10-second barrier
The talented youngster previously ran a personal best of 10.00s flat in February and clocked a wind-assisted 9.99s in Perth.
“I have done 10.00 flat in my season opener and that race was a bit rocky. Time will tell obviously but I am pretty sure that is coming soon.”
He remains confident that an official sub-10 second run is imminent despite mounting external expectations.
“Obviously I didn’t do it here, but soon for sure. I don’t feel pressure too much but pressure comes with the territory.”
“The more people, the more pressure there is. The more pressure, the faster you run.”
The current Australian national 100m record stands at 9.93s, established by Patrick Johnson in Japan in 2003.
