Sprinter Gout Gout has broken the 10-second barrier in the 100m for the first time, but his 9.99s won’t be officially recorded in the record books due to an illegal tailwind of 3.5m/s.
The 17-year-old set the time in the heats of the under-20 100m at the national athletics titles in Perth on Thursday afternoon, and he is due to run the final later on Thursday evening.
Gout was only told he had broken the 10-second mark by media immediately after the race. He let out an “oh” in surprise, but quickly regained his composure and said he was just focused on recovery and preparation for the final.
When asked whether it felt special to break the historic mark, even with the tailwind, Gout said no.
“It doesn’t feel very special,” he said.
“I mean, this is the stuff you’ve got to do to get the next level, so sub-10 was inevitable, it happened today, so hopefully it will keep happening.”
Gout chose to contest the under-20 category for the 100m at this meet, while he juggles the opens competition in the 200m in which he holds the national record.
Dressed in the maroon of Queensland, he started slowly but quickly accelerated and actually eased up before the line.
The clock initially showed 10.02s, but the time was adjusted to 9.99s, prompting the confusion after the race.
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The Australian record was set by Patrick Johnson in 2003, with a time of 9.93s.
More to follow …