SYDNEY: Australian sprinting prodigy Gaut Gaut on Saturday set the fastest time ever by a 16-year-old to break the 200m national record, doing something Usain Bolt never achieved.
The youngster ran 20.04 seconds at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships on his home track in Brisbane, breaking Peter Norman’s 1968 Olympics national record of 20.06.
Gout has been compared to Bolt in the local media and his time is the fastest 16-year-old over 200m, World Athletics said.
Gout has also now achieved the second fastest time in history for an under-18 athlete, overtaking Bolt’s 20.13. “These are adult hours and me, just a kid, I’m running them. It’s definitely going to be a great future,” said Gaut, who was born in Brisbane when his parents immigrated to Australia from South Sudan. were done
“I didn’t expect it to be that fast but I guess I ran the fastest Australian time ever in the 200.
“I’ve been chasing that record but I didn’t think it would come this year. I thought maybe next year or the year after that.”
It came a day after Gaut clocked a wind-assisted 10.04 seconds in the 100m to highlight his potential. “You know what they say,” he said Saturday.