Analysis | August 18, 2025
On December 7, 2024, a 16-year-old Gout Gout ran a wind-legal 20.04 seconds in the 200-meter at the 2024 Australian All Schools Championships. And the world took notice.
People who had seen him run in Australia up until this point may have already known his potential, but it was this run that drew attention from around the world. Of course, media outlets started drawing comparisons to a young Usain Bolt.
Despite still being a teenager, Gout Gout’s run broke the Oceania record of 20.06 seconds previously held by Peter Norman for almost 60 years. It also bettered Usain Bolt’s age-17 best run of 20.13 seconds.
Only Erriyon Knighton has run faster as a U18 athlete, clocking 19.84 seconds in 2021.
Gout Gout is now 17 and has lowered his personal best to 20.02 seconds in the 200-meter and 10.17 seconds in the 100-meter. He has also run a wind-aided 19.84 seconds and 9.99 seconds, respectively in these events.
He’s in elite company, seemingly on track to become one of the most dominant sprinters of all time if he keeps developing. His times would already place him well in senior competitions despite still being a U20 athlete through the 2026 season. He already ranks 127 all-time in the 200-meter and seems poised to rise rapidly up the ranks.
But how far up the all-time list will he climb? It’s impossible to know for sure how he will develop, but we can compare him to other athletes through the years who also broke out at the U18 and U20 levels.
Gout Gout vs. Usain Bolt | Will Gout Gout Break Usain Bolt’s World Record?
Of Usain Bolt’s World Records, the 200-meter record of 19.19 seconds looks more vulnerable. Will Gout Gout be the one to break it?
We can’t be certain how Gout Gout will develop through the rest of his career, but we can take a look at how he stacks up compared to Bolt year by year.
Usain Bolt didn’t start running the 100-meter until he was in his 20s, so let’s take a look at how their times compare through their age 14–17 season in the 200-meter.
| Age | Usain Bolt | Gout Gout |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | 21.73s | 21.14s |
| 15 | 20.58s (Age WR) | 20.87s |
| 16 | 20.13s | 20.04s (Age WR) |
| 17 | 19.93s | 20.02 (season ongoing) |
| 18 | 19.99s | – |
| 19 | 19.88s | – |
| 20 | 19.75s | – |
| 21 | 19.30s | – |
| 22 | 19.19s | – |
The two runners seem to be on a very similar trajectory. Usain Bolt ran faster at the age of 15, but Gout Gout ran faster at 16. Again, it’s difficult to know for sure how the rest of their careers will progress, but it does at least put him in the conversation as somebody who may have a legitimate shot at breaking the world record.
Even Bolt has said “He looks like a young me.”
Gout Gout vs. Erriyon Knighton
Knighton is another young runner who drew comparisons to Usain Bolt, being referred to by some media outlets as Bolt’s “Heir.”
Knighton is still only 21, but he has already accomplished a lot in his young career. He has won a silver and bronze medal at the World Championships and is the U20 World Record holder.
Let’s look at how his times compare to Gout Gout’s.
| Age | Erriyon Knighton | Gout Gout |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | 21.15s | 20.87s |
| 16 | 20.33s | 20.04s (Age WR) |
| 17 | 19.84s (Age WR) | 20.02 (season ongoing) |
| 18 | 19.49s (Age WR) | – |
| 19 | 19.72s (Age WR) | – |
| 20 | 19.77s | – |
| 21 | 19.97 (season ongoing) | – |
The best may still be ahead of Knighton, but he is facing some uncertainty. In 2024, he tested positive for a steroid used in livestock farming, trenbolone, but was later cleared by the American Tribunal to run at the Olympics. The decision was based on evidence that the positive tests were triggered by oxtail from a bakery in central Florida
However, the World Anti-Doping Agency and Athletics Integrity Unit challenged the ruling, and the results of the appeal are still pending.
Gout Gout Compared to the 10 Fastest U18 Athletes
Gout Gout ran the second-fastest U18 time in history, only behind Knighton. Here’s a look at the top 10 U18 athletes in history:
| Rank | Time | Wind | Name | Country | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19.84 | 0.3 | Erriyon KNIGHTON | USA | 2021 |
| 2 | 20.04 | 1.5 | Gout GOUT | AUS | 2024 |
| 3 | 20.13 | 0 | Usain BOLT | JAM | 2003 |
| 4 | 20.14 | 1.8 | Tate TAYLOR | USA | 2025 |
| 5 | 20.19 | 1.7 | Puripol BOONSON | THA | 2022 |
| 6 | 20.30 | 1.8 | Cameron MILLER | USA | 2025 |
| 7 | 20.34 | -0.4 | Abdul Hakim SANI BROWN | JPN | 2015 |
| 8 | 20.37 | 1.7 | DaBryan BLANTON | USA | 2001 |
| 8 | 20.37 | 1.9 | Thomas SOMERS | GBR | 2014 |
| 10 | 20.39 | -1.5 | Clinton DAVIS | USA | 1982 |
Of the other athletes on the all-time top 10 list, we know the story of what happened to Usain Bolt, going on to break both the 100-meter and 200-meter world records.
Two of the other runners on this list, Tate Taylor and Cameron Miller, made the list in 2025, so we’ll need to wait and see how their careers progress before assessing their trajectory.
This leaves us with five potential comparisons to Gout Gout, although he did run more than a quarter of a second faster than all the remaining comparison’s other than Puripol Boonson.
Puripol Boonson
Boonson is now 19 years old. After running 20.19 seconds as a U18 athlete in 2022, he ran 21.08 seconds in 2023 and hasn’t competed at all in the event in 2024 or 2025. He has shifted his attention toward the 100-meter, running a personal best of 10.06 seconds in 2023.
He was the silver medalist in the 100-meter at the recent 26th Asian Athletics Championships and finished second at the FISU World University Games.
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown
Sani Brown ran 20.34 seconds in the 200-meter in 2015 as a U18 athlete, which gives us more time to look at how his career progressed.
He would lower his personal best to 20.08 seconds in 2019, four years later, but would mostly focus on the 100-meter. He ran a personal best of 9.96 seconds in 2024 at the Olympics, making it to the semi-finals.
His highest finish at the World Championships in an individual event is sixth in the 100-meter in 2023.
DaBryan Blanton
Blanton is now retired, so we can look at his entire career. He never improved on his 20.37-second time he ran as a youth athlete, continuing to compete for another eight years. He would go on to run a personal best in the 100-meter of 10.07 seconds. His highest honors are winning the NCAA Division I Championships twice in the 60-meter.
Thomas Somers
Somers is still active, although he hasn’t competed in 2025. After running 20.37 seconds in 2014 as a U18 athlete, he would never build on this time. He would go on to finish seventh at the World Junior Championships two years later.
He would run a personal best in the 100-meter in 2023 with 10.38 seconds.
Clinton Davis
Davis ran 20.39 seconds into a negative wind when he was a U18 athlete in 1982. The next year, he ran 20.29 seconds. This would be the fastest time of his career. The highlight of his career was winning the 1982 Pan American Junior Championships in the 200-meter.
Gout Gout Compared to U20 All-Time List
Here’s a look at how Gout Gout compares to the all-time U20 list. Of course, he still has more than another year as a junior.
| Rank | Time | Country | Competitor | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19.49 | USA | Erriyon KNIGHTON | 30 Apr 2022 |
| 2 | 19.93 | JAM | Usain BOLT | 11 Apr 2004 |
| 3 | 19.96 | ISR | Blessing Akwasi AFRIFAH | 04 Aug 2022 |
| 3 | 19.96 | BOT | Letsile TEBOGO | 04 Aug 2022 |
| 5 | 19.97 | USA | Issamade ASINGA | 29 Apr 2023 |
| 6 | 20.02 | USA | Xavier BUTLER | 30 May 2025 |
| 6 | 20.02 | AUS | Gout GOUT | 24 Jun 2025 |
| 8 | 20.04 | AZE | Ramil GULIYEV | 10 Jul 2009 |
| 9 | 20.07 | USA | Lorenzo DANIEL | 18 May 1985 |
| 10 | 20.08 | NGR | Udodi Chudi ONWUZURIKE | 27 May 2022 |
| 10 | 20.08 | RSA | Bayanda WALAZA | 19 Mar 2025 |
It’s telling that there aren’t many names on the all-time U20 list that also appear on the U18 list.
Let’s take a look at the runners we haven’t already looked at, except for Xavier Butler and Bayanda Walaza, since they ran their best times this year.
Blessing Akwasi Afrifah
Afrifah ran 19.96 seconds in 2022 as a junior, which won him the World Junior Championships. His fastest time since then has been 20.31 seconds
Letsile Tebogo
Letsile Tebogo ran 19.96 seconds as a U20 athlete in 2022. He has dropped his personal best to 19.46 seconds and is the defending Olympic Champion. Still only 22, he looks like he could still be improving and may have a chance at challenging the world record.
Issamade Asinga
Asinga ran 19.97 seconds as a junior in 2023. He hasn’t competed in an international competition since then, since he switched his eligibility from the United States to Suriname in May 2023. Presumably, we’ll see him back on the international circuit next year.
Ramil Guliyev
Guliyev ran 20.04 in 2009 as a junior and continues to compete. He ran his lifetime best of 19.76 seconds in 2018, when he won the European Championships. He also broke 10 seconds in the 100-meter with 9.97 seconds in 2017.
He won the World Championships in the 200-meter in 2017.
Lorenzo Daniel
Lorenzo Daniel ran 20.07 seconds in 1985 and ran a personal best of 19.87 seconds in 1988. He would continue to run until 1993, with the highlight of his career being winning the 1988 NCAA Championships in the 200-meter.
Udodi Chudi Onwuzurike
Onwuzurike ran 20.08 seconds as a U20 athelte in 2022 and would go on to win the World Junior Championships that year. In 2023, he ran 19.76 seconds and 9.92 seconds in the 100-meter. He’s currently still active.
How Fast Will Gout Gout Run?
The only thing we know for certain when looking back at Gout Gout’s career is that he will run at least 20.02 seconds in the 200-meter and 10.17 seconds in the 100-meter, since these are his current personal bests.
Anything else is purely speculative. His two closest comparisons seem to be Bolt and Knighton. We don’t know where Knighton will end up on the all-time lists, but he currently ranks sixth in the 200-meter.
Are we looking at the true “heir” to Usain Bolt’s records? Only time will tell, but Gout Gout does bring some excitement to the sprints. Gout Gout, Knighton, and Tebogo have all emerged as legitimate contenders to break the 200-meter record in the next few years.
Even among the top U18 and U20 runners of all time, only a small percentage went on to win World Championships or the Olympics. But if I had to put money on it, it seems likely Gout Gout will continue to significantly improve.