American sprinter Erin Brown has questioned the legitimacy of Gout Gout's record-breaking 200m victory, calling it "as fake as it comes".
On Sunday afternoon, Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout walked away from the Sydney Olympic Park with a new world-under-20 record on his already-stacked CV.
The 18-year-old, from Brisbane, became the first Australian to break the 20-second barrier at 200m, clocking a time of 19.67 seconds with a legal +1.7-metres-per-second tailwind.
His record-breaking feat at the Australian Athletics Championships means that Gout is faster than Usain Bolt at the same age.
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Before the race, Gout ran a sub-20 second race, but his time was declared illegal as the wind speed exceeded levels deemed to be acceptable by World Athletics.
This attempt, meanwhile, was deemed legal after the race was completed in a wind speed of -1.7m/s (if a tailwind exceeds an average velocity of +2.0 metres per second, it is called illegal).
That being said, not everyone is convinced by the circumstances surrounding Gout's win.
American sprinter Erin Brown reacted to the record-breaking run by posting a clip of wind blowing at Sydney Olympic Park alongside the caption: "+1.7 wind... mind you trees and shii falling over".
Brown, who has previously criticised Gout for "only racing against bums", went on to falsely claim that Gout's record was "fake" because it was recorded with an illegal tailwind.
"I'm not gonna lie, you all had me for a second," Brown said on TikTok. "I thought we really witnessed something special. I pick up my phone and a million people text me saying, 'Gout Gout just ran 19.6'.
"That made me inclined to go check the results. Not gonna lie, and if you say this s**t is hating, your ass is coping, because you and you wanna be different. This s**t is clearly fake. Obviously, overtly, this is as fake as it comes."
Brown argued that the impressive times run by Gout Gout and his other competitors in the 200m final were down to an illegal tailwind. He also compared their previous personal bests to the race in Sydney.
"So Gout Gout, who ran 20.4 in his last race, shows up and runs 19.6," Brown continued. "Aidan Murphy in second. A guy whose PR is 20.4, shows up and runs 19.8. Calab Law, a guy who's ran 20.7 this year, shows up and runs 20.2.
"So, if you just see the pattern of the top three, it seems like everybody is running pretty much half a second faster than they've ever ran.
"And if you skip all the way to the bottom with just Archer [McHugh], 20.3, and this is a guy who broke 21 seconds for the first time like two weeks ago, 20.8, then he shows up and runs a half second faster.
"So, everybody in a race runs a half second faster than they've ever ran? But the race is real and the time is real."
"Australia keeps producing some of the fakest marks that we ever see, and y'all gas that s**t up every time, and then these people go get they ass stepped on," added Brown.
Brown is currently ranked 3612 in the world, according to World Athletics. His best time in the 200m this year was a 20.84 set at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in New Mexico.
More eyebrows raised at Gout Gout's record-breaking 200m time
Jonathan Gault, a reporter from Boston, has also contributed to the debate around Gout's run.
Taking to X after the race in Sydney, he wrote: “Have to wonder a bit about the times in the Australian 200m final. The top seven all ran personal bests — and the top 5 all PR’d by .20 or more."
Australian sports analysis group Insight Lane also commented on the situation.
“Don’t want to take away from the Gout run," they said. "Stupendous. However not sure if we can quite compare times to medal times at major champs. Today 7/8 runners ran a PB. Murphy took 0.53 off his PB and ran easily under a previous 56yo Australian record. Seems like unicorn conditions.”
Jack Kenmare