S. SUDAN TEEN THE NEXT USAIN BOLT?

Meet the world’s fastest 16-year-old: South Sudanese-Australian Gout Gout (pronounced 'Gwot Gwot').

Hailing from a nation often associated with war and suffering in mainstream media, Gout joins in the ranks of those reshaping the narrative of South Sudan, shining a different spotlight on the world’s youngest country.

At the Australian All-Schools Championships in Brisbane on 7 December, Gout delivered a record-breaking performance, securing two historic titles.

First, he broke Peter Norman's half-century-old national record of 20.06 seconds set at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, becoming the fastest Australian to ever run the 200 m. Second, with an extraordinary time of 20.04 seconds, Gout shattered Usain Bolt's 2003 world record of 20.31 seconds for the under-16 age group, earning him the title of fastest 16-year-old in history.

After the race, Gout acknowledged that the world record had been in his sights but came sooner than he had anticipated: “I thought it would come maybe next year, the year after that,” he told reporters, “but I didn’t think it would come this year.”

SOURCES:

https://x.com/AthsAust/status/1865288461256921562

https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/articles/c9vkk7y2ywvo

https://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/24/sport/olympics-norman-black-power/index.html

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/athletics/he-would-have-been-proud-of-you-touching-message-to-gout-gout-from-family-of-peter-norman-20241208-p5kwpb.html