American sprinter says Gout Gout’s record-breaking run isn’t real
American sprinter Erin Brown has raised some doubts about the record-breaking 200m win by Gout Gout, saying it seemed “as fake as it gets.”
On Sunday afternoon, Australian sprint star Gout Gout made headlines at Sydney Olympic Park by setting a new world-under-20 record. The 18-year-old from Brisbane became the first Australian to run under 20 seconds in the 200m, finishing in 19.67 seconds with a legal +1.7 m/s tailwind. This impressive run means he’s faster than Usain Bolt was at the same age.
Before this, Gout had run a sub-20 race too, but that time was disqualified due to a wind speed that was too high, making it illegal under World Athletics rules. This latest race was legal since the wind was measured at +1.7 m/s, which is within the allowed limit of +2.0 m/s.
Still, not everyone is convinced about Gout’s win. Erin Brown shared a video of strong wind at Sydney Olympic Park on social media, joking about the +1.7 wind and how trees were falling down. Brown, who has criticized Gout before for only competing against weaker rivals, wrongly claimed the record was “fake” because of an illegal tailwind.
“I wasn’t sure at first,” Brown said on TikTok. “Lots of people were texting me saying, ‘Gout Gout just ran 19.6.’ I checked the results, and if that’s considered hate, then that’s just people denying the truth. This really seems fake.”
Brown pointed out that Gout and the others in the race ran way faster than their previous bests. For example, Gout improved from 20.4 to 19.6, Aidan Murphy went from 20.4 to 19.8, and Calab Law dropped from 20.7 to 20.2. Brown thought it was strange that nearly every runner ran about half a second faster than before, calling it too good to be true.
Brown also criticized Australia, saying they often produce suspiciously fast times that get a lot of hype, only for the athletes to struggle later on.
Erin Brown is currently ranked 3612 in the world, with her best 200m time this year being 20.84 seconds at a meet in New Mexico.
Boston reporter Jonathan Gault joined the conversation on social media, noting that the Australian 200m final was unusual because the top seven runners all set personal bests, and the top five improved by 0.20 seconds or more.
Australian sports analysis group Insight Lane also commented, saying, “We don’t want to take away from Gout’s amazing run, but these times might not match up with what we see at major championships. Seven out of eight runners set personal bests, with Murphy knocking over half a second off his own. It looks like the conditions might have been perfect—almost like unicorn conditions.”