Gout Gout, the 19-year-old sprinter, had his 200m record officially recognized.
In Sydney, Australia in April of this year, Gout Gout ran a 19.67 second 200m sprint. This score got ratified on Tuesday, June 2, of this year, marking him as the Junior World Record holder.
His runner up, Aidan Murphy, also became a record holder as he ran a 19.88 second 200m. This is Australia’s second fastest time. Three other people also set a record at that event.
World Athletics said, “Australian sprinter Gout stormed to his world U20 200m record of 19.67 when retaining his title at the Australian Championships in Sydney on 12 April.”
There was some doubt over his score being approved, as is with any extravagant thing. Scores aren’t immediately approved for a record, instead they review the conditions of the race. They have to meet specific requirements for their scores to be ratified. To ratify a score, they first have to establish where the competition was held to determine if they use outdoor or indoor criteria.
For example, if it was outdoors, they would need to calculate the wind speed to make sure it is within regulation. They have to calculate the wind speed because it has to stay within a certain limit for it to qualify: It has to stay within two meters per second for it to be legally considered.
They also check if the athlete did all the required tests, including drug tests. World Athletics confirmed in a statement in December 2022: “Knighton had opened his season with a time of 19.49 in Baton Rouge, but that mark could not be ratified as a world U20 record because specific anti-doping testing requirements were not met.”
World Athletics said, “The 18-year-old smashed his previous PB of 20.02, which was also the senior Oceanian record. He also took 0.02 off the world U20 record of 19.69 set by Erriyon Knighton in Eugene in 2022.”
While evaluating Knighton’s score to eventually ratify it, World Athletics noticed that he did not pass his drug test. This led to Knighton being put on a four year suspension in 2025.
A previous article written about Gout’s record discussed how this teenager is on track to beat Usain Bolt’s record. The ratification of his score means that it officially counts as a World Record, as he now holds the Junior 200m World Record in track and field.