Gout’s second world record in a rare race wasn’t accepted due to an unusual rule many don’t know about.
Usain Bolt’s running records can relax for now because his biggest challenge is actually himself. That is, until a new star comes along—and right now, Australia’s Gout Gout is shining bright, breaking sprinting records left and right.
This 18-year-old speedster has already amazed the athletics world with his incredible pace. Even Bolt has noticed, calling Gout Gout’s talent “immense” and saying he could be a real threat to his records. Gout Gout is quickly becoming the hottest name on the track.
The young athlete aims to be the fastest man in the world. He’s already the fastest under-20 sprinter ever in both the 100m and 200m races. Recently, he proved the doubters wrong by smashing another record in the 200m.
At the Golden Spike event, Gout Gout raced against American star Noah Lyles, currently the fastest man alive, in the rare 150m sprint. This distance isn’t as popular as the 100m or 200m at the Olympics but is gaining interest.
In Czechia, Gout Gout showed his amazing skills and set a new world-best time for under-20 runners in the 150m, clocking 14.96 seconds—just 0.04 seconds slower than the overall world record before the race!
Unfortunately, because the 150m isn’t an Olympic or major championship event, his time isn’t officially recognized as a world record. Still, it’s an impressive mark that everyone is talking about.
Gout Gout finished third in that race, with less than 0.3 seconds between him and Noah Lyles, who actually set a new record himself.
Even though Gout Gout holds the under-20 best, US sprinter Lyles is the fastest ever in this event with a 14.67-second sprint, beating the earlier record of 14.92 set by Kishane Thompson this year.
However, like Gout Gout’s, Lyles’ time isn’t officially recorded because the 150m is a newer, unofficial race distance.
And fun fact: the fastest 150m ever from a standing start might actually be Usain Bolt’s time from his famous 2009 World Championship win, where he ran 150m in 14.44 seconds before finishing the full 200m in 19.19—faster than Lyles, but under different conditions.