Sprint sensation Gout Gout has clocked the equal-fastest legal 100m run by an Australian on home soil, notching 10.00 seconds (+0.9) in his first race at the distance in 2026. The performance came at the Dane Bird-Smith Shield Meet at QSAC in Brisbane on Saturday.
The 18-year-old's time matches the mark set by Lachlan Kennedy in Perth in April 2025. Kennedy and Patrick Johnson hold faster legal times of 9.98 and 9.93 seconds respectively, but those were achieved overseas. Gout also set an Australian under-20 record, eclipsing the 10.15 mark set by Jake Doran in 2018.
With this run, Gout secured his first qualifying performance for this year's world under-20 championships. He opted not to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, instead focusing on the 200m at the junior titles in Oregon, a decision supported by Australian Athletics.
Gout aims to emulate Usain Bolt, who began his career with 200m gold at the 2002 world juniors. If successful, Gout would become the first Australian to win a sprint gold at the junior world championships, adding to his achievements since breaking Peter Norman's 56-year-old 200m national record in 2024.
