Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Vic Pascoe
Topics: Australia, Social Media, Viral, Sport
Joshua Nair
A young sprinter has become an overnight sensation after footage of his 100m race at the Queensland Athletics Championships made the rounds online.
The 16-year-old prodigy might just be the next big thing in sports, as he went viral for his outstanding performance.
Known as Gout Gout, the Australian sprinter was born in Brisbane in 2007, just two years after his parents migrated from South Sudan and following this showing, some have been quick to brand his as the 'next Usain Bolt'.
He attended the Ipswich Grammar School in South East Queensland, as he began to make a name for himself in the athletics world, recording a staggering time of 10.57 seconds, aged just 14.
Coach Diane Sheppard got to work on the youth's technique, as she explained to Athletics Australia in November 2022: “Six or eight months ago, he looked like one of those things that blow around in car yards. His arms were out of control,
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“People are quick to comment saying look how bad his start is, but the kid hasn’t even got full control of his limb length yet," she highlighted.
In fact, within just 12 months, he was breaking national records, as Gout currently holds the Australian under-16 100m and 200m records.
He didn't stop there though, as the teenage sensation recorded a time of 20.87 seconds to win the under-18 men's 200m final at the Australian Junior Athletics Championship, going on to better it in January this year with a time of 20.69 seconds.
That's just 0.11 seconds slower than Bolt's time when he was the same age.
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In March this year, he continued his upward trajectory as he recorded a personal best time of 10.29 at the 2024 Queensland Athletics Championships, a race that has been viewed by millions on social media, which can be viewed above.
Gout Gout easily won the race, finishing metres ahead of the next competitor as he took home the gold and put the world on notice.
According to the description on the video uploaded to YouTube, Gout Gout finished a whopping 0.6 seconds ahead of second place, a huge margin in a 100m race.
The jaw-dropping performance has blown up on X as well, as one user uploaded the clip on Friday (23 August) morning.
He wrote: "Read about a 16-year-old Sudanese kid in Australia who ran 100m in 10.2 seconds this year. Found the footage— freakin ridiculous,
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"His name is Gout Gout, remember the name. No way is this kid not gonna be an Olympian one day," he claimed.
Fans took to social media to share their reactions to the viral video, as one wrote: "Bro... I've never seen a BURN like this before in a 100M"
Another posted: "Gout Gout might be the one to break Bolt's record."
A third wrote: "It’s like he pressed the 2x speed button halfway into that sprint"
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A different user said: "He's gonna break the 9.58s world record soon. Watch and see."
A fifth boldly claimed: "Definitely getting a gold at the Olympics years from now. What was that acceleration," with a crying emoji.
And finally, a sixth explained: "Gout Gout is selected for Australia in the World Junior Championships in Peru next week. Interesting to see how his undoubted talent measures up at that level. Might be even quicker when he sorts out his start. Seems up stand up out of the blocks. Some stride length in full flow."