Gout Gout is a teenage sprinter from Australia whose scintillating speed has drawn huge interest from fans and pundits around the world.
Aged 17, Gout competes over 60m, 100m, 200m and 400m and has set a series of impressive records at youth level.
Videos of Gout’s dominant performances have gone viral online, and his height, long strides, and string of stellar victories have led to comparisons to legendary eight-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt.
Born in Queensland to parents from South Sudan, Gout is one of seven children. His father has said his name should be pronounced ‘Gwot’, as it was originally spelt ‘Guot’ before being incorrectly transliterated from Arabic during his early childhood.
His sprinting ability was was first noted by school coach Di Sheppard, who has worked with Gout since he was 13.
Gout is still at school, but is also about to embark on the first steps of his international career.
How fast is Gout Gout?
Gout holds the Australian under-16 records in both the 100m and 200m. He set the former by running 10.57s as a 14-year-old, and the latter with a time of 20.87s aged 15.
In 2024, he won the Australian under-20 100m title with a time of 10.48, before securing a 200m silver medal in the World Under-20 Championships in Lima.
Later the same year, he won the 200m and 400m at the 2024 GPS Track & Field Championships in his native Queensland.
After securing those titles, Gout turned professional and signed a sponsorship deal with Adidas.
He subsequently broke the Australian under-18 record – setting the fifth fastest time of any athlete of any age in the country’s history – and became only the second person to ever go faster than Bolt in the under-18 200m category.