Gout Gout Sent Major Olympics Warning as Rival Smashes 15-Year Record
Rising sprinting star Gout Gout might have to look over his shoulder at the Olympics one day after a fellow teenager broke a 100m record which had stood for 15 years.
The 17-year-old athlete is making waves in sprinting circles thanks to his rapid rise over the past year.
Recently, the teenager represented Australia at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo and reached the semi-final stage of the 200m.
Gout finished in third place in his heat to reach the semi-finals, running a time of 20.22 seconds.
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In his semi-final, he finished fourth with a time of 20.36 seconds, which was not enough for him to progress to the final.
The next edition of the Olympics will be in 2028 when the Games are hosted in Los Angeles.
However, the edition after that will be on home soil for Gout in 2032 when the Games take place in Brisbane.
And Gout might not be the only home hope for Australia when those Games come along after a teenage rival broke an Australian record in the 100m which had previously stood for a decade and a half.
Uwezo Lubenda, who is a year younger than Gout at 16, is the new holder of the 100m Queensland Representative School Sport state athletics title.
He did so by running 10.35 seconds - beating a record set in 2010 by Hugh Donavan of 10.73 seconds.
By comparison with Gout - who holds the Oceanian record for 200m with a time of 20.02 seconds - the fastest time he ran the 100m as a 16-year-old was 10.17 seconds.
And Lubenda could not hide his pride at his triumph and beating a long standing record.
Speaking to the Townsville Bulletin, Lubenda said: "Man, I feel amazing.
"I was kind of hoping for a time like that, and I wasn’t thinking too much about it, but I'm really grateful.
"I had to make sure I composed myself and thought about what I had to do. My coach told me to just get into it, do what you'd normally be doing and don't change anything, that's about it.
"Everything went smoothly, everything went according to plan."
Speaking last year, Lubenda has made it clear he is targeting a place at the Olympics in Brisbane in 2032.
He told the Townsville Bulletin: "My goal is 2032 Brisbane, I've got my eyes on that.
"I’ll be 23 or 24, so I'll be in my prime as a sprinter. It's inspiring me a lot to see that I've improved from the past.
"In the past, I wasn't the best, but I'm starting to have more confidence as I'm improving more.
"Last year, the races were close, but this year I'm seeing a big difference. I'm waiting to improve more so I can be better next year."
John McDougall