'New Usain Bolt' runs 100m under 10 seconds twice

During the qualifying round at the Australian Athletics Championships last weekend, Gout ran with a tailwind of 3.4 m/s and managed to clock 9.99 seconds. The young athlete repeated the feat in the final less than two hours later, with a slightly lighter tailwind of 2.6 m/s.

Competing in the U20 category, Gout easily won the national 100m championship. Second-place finisher Josiah John clocked 10.27 seconds, while third-place Hugh Kabengele finished at 10.48 seconds.

Gout's latest performance equaled the year's best time set by South Africa's Bayanda Walaza in March and broke the national and Oceania U20 record of 10.15 seconds, although it was barred from the record book due to the wind conditions being too strong, Canadian Running Magazine reported.

Gout Gout after competing his run at the 2025 Australian Athletics Championships. Photo by Instagram/@oceaniaathletics

In sprinting, tailwinds exceeding 2m/s are considered to provide an advantage to the athletes. Assisted winds can reduce times by about 0.1 seconds, a significant difference in the sprinting world.

"Sometimes it’s frustrating," Gout told The Guardian. "But you know, you can’t control what you can’t control, and the wind is obviously a thing you can’t control. You’ve got to learn how to run with it or run against it."

The following day, Gout won the 200m event, clocking 19.84 seconds, but the result was not officially recognized either, due to a 2.2 m/s tailwind.

Gout, often compared to the legendary Usain Bolt, first made waves in 2022 when he ran 10.57 seconds in the 100m at just 14 years old. He gained even more attention in August when he ran 20.60 seconds in the 200m at the 2024 World U20 Athletics Championships, breaking Bolt's record of 20.61 seconds set in 2002 when Bolt was just 15.

Having signed a sponsorship deal with Adidas, Gout has revealed plans to train abroad with the goal of competing in the 2025 Tokyo World Championships, scheduled to take place from Sept. 13 to 21. If he doesn't make the cut, Gout will finish high school.

At the school track championships in December 2024, Gout’s time of 10.04 seconds, when he was 16, was disqualified due to a 3.4 m/s headwind. As a result, his official personal best in the 100m event remains 10.17 seconds.