0:00

This is

0:03

the Guardian.

0:06

I'm not

0:08

Hyder, coming

0:12

to you

0:15

from Gatigoland,

0:20

and this

0:23

is the

0:25

full story. It

0:28

won't be for

0:30

long. Late last year,

0:33

the Queensland teenager broke

0:35

the Australian record for

0:38

the 200m sprint, which

0:40

has been untouched for

0:43

more than five decades.

0:45

at just 17, he

0:47

is packing out stadiums.

0:49

At just 17,

0:51

he is packing

0:53

out stadiums, drawing

0:55

comparisons to Usain

0:57

Bolt, and has

0:59

signed a multi-million-dollar

1:01

deal with Adidas. So

1:04

what's next for the

1:06

high schooler from Ipswich?

1:08

Today, a sprinting star

1:10

is born. It's Thursday,

1:13

the 10th of April.

1:25

Hey there Jack. Jack Snape is a

1:27

sports reporter at Guardian

1:29

Australia. I'm excited to

1:31

be talking to you about

1:33

Queensland teenage sprinter gout gout

1:35

gout. He's been on the

1:37

rise for a couple of

1:39

years but in December he

1:41

really made his mark on

1:43

the athletics world to become

1:45

one of Australia's newest sporting

1:47

stars. Certainly is not only

1:50

the newest, he's perhaps the

1:52

biggest sporting star in Australia.

1:54

That's despite his age of

1:56

17, or maybe because of

1:59

it. He's an incredible story

2:01

and since... Focusing on his

2:03

running in his early teens,

2:05

he's been breaking national junior

2:07

records for about three years.

2:10

But yeah, the second half

2:12

of last year, he really

2:14

took another step. He won

2:16

the silver medal in the

2:19

200m at the World Under

2:21

20 Championships in Peru. Leading

2:23

into the straight, it is

2:25

Gout, 2077. For Gout, remember

2:28

this young man is only

2:30

16 years old. And then

2:32

he did something even more

2:34

extraordinary. at the Australian All

2:36

Schools Athletics Championship in December.

2:39

Yeah, so the Queenslander, he

2:41

hasn't even touched the crown

2:43

yet, the young man, and

2:45

he's boomed away here in

2:48

the heats, and he's gone.

2:50

10.05! How do you do

2:52

it? He almost broke the

2:54

10-second barrier in the 100

2:56

metres. With

3:01

a time that

3:03

broke one of

3:05

Australia's most famous

3:07

athletic records, Peter

3:09

Norman's 20.06 seconds

3:12

set all the

3:14

way back in

3:16

1968. That

3:18

record had not been broken

3:20

for decades and decades, but

3:22

at only 16 at the

3:24

time Goutgout ran the 200

3:27

meters as you say at

3:29

20.04 seconds Can you put

3:31

that into context for us

3:33

Jack? How fast is that

3:35

say compared to the world's

3:37

other great sprinters? Well you

3:39

look at a video of

3:41

Gout. It looks like he's

3:43

running fast, but without looking

3:45

at the times. It's hard

3:47

to appreciate just how fast.

3:49

And when it comes to

3:51

sprinting, the benchmark is Usain

3:53

Bolt. He's perhaps the greatest

3:55

sprinter of all time. And

3:57

he's actually someone who's described

3:59

gout-gout as someone who looks

4:01

like a young me. But

4:03

Bolt didn't go faster than

4:05

20.13 seconds as an under

4:07

18. That puts Gout's achievements

4:09

at such a young age

4:11

into perspective. And within a

4:13

list of under 20s world

4:15

records, Gout's time that he

4:17

said in December is the

4:19

seventh fastest ever. And remember

4:21

he's just 17, so he's

4:23

still got a few years

4:25

to better that. Okay, you

4:27

sound really excited. Gout now

4:29

holds this Australian record. As

4:31

you noted earlier, he broke

4:34

a record set by an

4:36

Australian Olympic legend in the

4:38

1968 Olympic Games. And it

4:40

was historic for not just

4:42

the record that Peter Norman

4:44

set. Talk to me about

4:46

that. This record from Peter

4:48

Norman that had stood since

4:50

1968. was one of the

4:52

most remarkable chapters in Australian

4:54

sport. Peter Norman did get

4:56

a good start. I thought

4:58

Smith is doing well. Peter

5:00

Norman is flying on the

5:02

outside. He's the centre of

5:04

the field is Tommy Smith

5:06

running through. President Peter Norman

5:08

runs a place. He beat

5:10

John Carlos. That 200m race

5:12

then, the Australian Norman surprised

5:14

everyone by finishing second. And

5:16

Peter Norman could have run

5:18

a second place. Behind or

5:20

third, it was a... Behind

5:22

American Tommy Smith and the

5:24

head of American John Carlos,

5:26

they're both black African-American athletes.

5:28

And so the context is,

5:30

this is in the midst

5:32

of the civil rights movement

5:34

in America, and the pair

5:36

after the race had actually

5:39

planned some kind of black

5:41

power salute on the podium.

5:43

But this is a place

5:45

where political expression is usually

5:47

forbidden. So it was hugely

5:49

controversial, their plans, and the

5:51

only problem was that John

5:53

Carlos had forgotten to bring

5:55

his black gloves in order

5:57

for him to hold up

5:59

his fist. donned with a

6:01

black glove. But Norman, he

6:03

was the one that actually

6:05

suggested that, yes, John Carlos might

6:07

have forgotten his gloves, but Tommy

6:10

Smith had two gloves. Why doesn't

6:12

Tommy wear a glove on his

6:14

right hand and John wear a

6:17

glove on his left? And Norman,

6:19

who himself was wearing an Olympic

6:21

project for human rights badge, was

6:24

proud to stand by them. The

6:26

raised arm and the clenched hand.

6:29

was a symbol of unity

6:31

with the fingers coming together

6:33

and a symbol of strength.

6:35

I couldn't see why anyone

6:37

would dislike or to the

6:39

nth degree hate someone simply

6:41

because they were a different

6:43

colour. And you'll see the

6:45

images now, that's the the

6:47

enduring image of this seminal

6:50

moment in sporting protest.

6:52

Mm. And Peter Norman stood

6:54

there in solidarity with them

6:56

and... face backlash back home

6:59

for that and was later

7:01

vindicated. Gout Jack has achieved

7:03

all of this while still in

7:06

high school. How has his family,

7:08

how has he responded to the

7:10

fame and success that he's had?

7:13

Well we love teenage success

7:15

in sport but the fear

7:17

is always that maybe They get

7:19

too much too soon that

7:21

the celebrity might go to

7:23

their head when the money

7:25

comes in their values change

7:27

their motivation lapses But at

7:29

the moment Gout seems to

7:32

be on the right path

7:34

Everyone's saying my name, everyone's

7:36

saying my name to top

7:38

their lungs, it's something great

7:40

and this is something not

7:42

a lot of people can

7:44

experience, so I'm definitely taking

7:46

it step by step and

7:48

enjoying no money. He has signed

7:50

this huge deal with Adidas, six

7:52

million dollars reportedly, maybe more than

7:54

a million dollars a year, but

7:56

he seems to be going down the same

7:58

path that he was with. He's got a

8:01

very tight team around him and

8:03

Gout himself has been mostly protected

8:05

from the spotlight. He's only given

8:07

a few interviews, but he does

8:10

seem to be handling things well.

8:12

He's smiling constantly. He's well-liked at

8:14

Ipswich Grammar and within the Queensland

8:17

athletic community. People love him, you

8:19

know, he was presenting awards. Maybe

8:21

the most controversial part of Gout's

8:23

emergence so far has been about

8:26

his name and it's something that

8:28

a lot of people bring up

8:30

when we do stories about Gout

8:32

Gout. Gout is the third oldest

8:35

of seven children to parents Bona

8:37

and Monica who migrated to Australia

8:39

from South Sudan two years before

8:41

Gout was born. And late last

8:44

year in the midst of

8:46

all the record-breaking hype. TV

8:48

reporters and cameraman doorstopped his

8:50

father Bonner and asked him

8:53

about Gaut Gaut's name. In

8:55

the moment Gaut's father actually

8:57

said that, well, originally

8:59

Gaut's name might have been

9:01

Gaut-Gaut and due to translation

9:03

and perhaps administrative errors, it

9:05

had changed by the time

9:07

he got to Australia. Everyone

9:10

picked this up and thought,

9:12

well, we've got to start

9:14

calling him, Gaut-Gaut-Gaut. But subsequent

9:16

to that, you know, we've

9:18

made a number of inquiries

9:20

to Gout's team and all

9:22

indications are that Gout loves

9:24

his name as is and

9:26

for the future, he would

9:28

like to be called that and

9:30

so that's what we're going to

9:33

continue calling him. Okay, Jack,

9:35

and you got a chance

9:37

to watch Gout Gout in

9:39

action last month at Melbourne's

9:41

Lakeside Stadium in an event

9:43

that celebrates Peter Norman's... legacy.

9:45

What was that like? An

9:48

extraordinary night. It's called Morrie

9:50

Plant in Melbourne. It's the

9:52

kind of showpiece event for

9:54

Australian athletics each year. The

9:56

One Day Spectator Spectacular. It

9:58

actually been the... year as a

10:01

promising junior and I was there

10:03

I watched him but didn't take

10:05

too much notice but did remember

10:07

the love all the teenagers

10:09

there had for him they

10:11

were shouting his name desperate

10:13

for an autograph desperate for

10:15

merchandise that moment prepared

10:17

me somewhat for this event a

10:20

couple of weeks ago when Gout

10:22

was certainly the star of the

10:24

show and interest in him

10:26

was such that They sold

10:28

out all 10,000 odd tickets

10:30

for the stadium. It's the

10:32

first time it had happened

10:34

in 20 years. That's right

10:37

Pete. We're already looking at

10:39

a record when it comes

10:42

to crowd numbers. This

10:44

event here at Lakeside

10:46

Stadium is sold out. There's

10:48

expected to be a ritual

10:50

that we're going to get

10:53

used to. You could hear a

10:55

pin drop. Everyone had their phones

10:57

out, really trying to make the

11:00

most of this clearly historic moment,

11:02

and they would have gone home

11:04

very satisfied, ultimately, that they

11:06

were part of Australian athletics history.

11:08

Gouts, three from the left, you're

11:10

not going to miss him. He's

11:12

going to lead them into the

11:14

straight, Gouts got a lot to

11:16

do, we knew that, he gets

11:18

up a long-side law. Gout didn't win

11:21

the race. Kennedy's one! He's upset

11:23

him, he's beating him by a

11:25

whisker. He was beaten by

11:27

another young Queenslander who he

11:29

has somewhat of a healthy

11:31

or friendly rivalry with.

11:33

Tell me about Loughlin Kennedy. No,

11:36

Gout didn't win the race and

11:38

that's what kind of makes

11:40

this story particularly interesting. No,

11:43

he was beaten by a

11:45

guy called Loughlin Kennedy or

11:47

Lockey Kennedy as he prefers,

11:49

who is another Queenslander

11:52

like Gout, but almost the exact

11:54

opposite. in terms of running style.

11:56

He's not much older than Gout

11:58

at age 21. But while

12:01

Gout takes some time to

12:03

build up his speed, he's

12:05

a bit of a slow

12:07

starter until he really gets

12:09

going. Kennedy is super powerful

12:11

particularly early on. He's shocked

12:13

the world with his performances

12:15

over 60 meters this year.

12:17

He won a silver medal

12:19

at the World Indoor Championships

12:21

in China a few weeks

12:23

ago. An Australian had never

12:25

won a medal at that

12:28

event. So he's doing things

12:30

that other people have never

12:32

done. During that race, a

12:34

couple of weeks ago in

12:36

Melbourne, as predicted, Kennedy started

12:38

quicker and he had quite

12:40

a significant lead, maybe five

12:42

or ten metres, coming down

12:44

the back straight. Gout tried

12:46

to get him back, tried

12:48

to catch up to him,

12:50

and Kennedy admits he was

12:52

lucky. If it was 202

12:54

metres, he might not have

12:57

won, but instead he held

12:59

off Gout by four hundredths

13:01

of a second. and more

13:03

than anything it's set up

13:05

this incredible rivalry. They call

13:07

it a friendly rivalry. I

13:09

just wanted to give him

13:11

a good race. It wouldn't

13:13

be fun if he has

13:15

destroyed everyone, so I'm sorry

13:17

if I did spoil it

13:19

a bit, but I mean,

13:21

what a great race. You

13:23

can't be upset about watching

13:26

something like that. It's no

13:28

doubt going to encourage and

13:30

drive each other's training and

13:32

hopefully on track success in

13:34

coming years. Can you talk

13:36

about locking? Is this a

13:38

new rivalry? I mean, it's

13:40

not a new rally. He's

13:42

always been versing me and

13:44

doing his like nature. It's

13:46

not a new rivalry, but

13:48

a rivalry I appreciate and

13:50

I love looking, he's also

13:53

a Queenslander and he's just

13:55

feeling well at India so

13:57

congratulations to him and I

13:59

can't wait to see what

14:01

the rest of his friends

14:03

are doing at nationals. We'll

14:05

be right back. You kind

14:07

of have to see this

14:09

to understand. Auntie Gina, she

14:11

lives after me. Gina Reinhart,

14:13

you know, that little voice,

14:15

mining magnate. There's never been

14:17

an Australian billionaire, like Gina

14:19

Reinhart. She has turned herself

14:22

into a global figure. There

14:24

aren't too many of those.

14:26

To me, she's sort of

14:28

like a female daughter. From

14:30

Guardian Australia, this is a

14:32

story about power. Gina's country

14:34

now. privilege. We've seen this

14:36

story before. I mean, Mrs.

14:38

Citizen Kane from the Old

14:40

Testament. This is an ancient

14:42

story. And influence. There's definitely

14:44

been more of her since

14:46

Trump. Gina Reinhart is emboldened.

14:48

I'm Sarah Martin. Search Gina and

14:51

listen now. Okay Jack, so later

14:53

this week, you'll be off to

14:55

Perth to watch Gout. at the

14:58

Australian Athletics Championships. How significant is

15:00

that event for him? This is

15:02

very significant for Gout. It's a

15:04

chance for him to win his

15:07

first national title in the 200m.

15:09

And there's an expectation that he'll

15:11

do it too, given that he

15:14

has the national record. But it's

15:16

really important for Gout just generally

15:18

as a 17-year-old emerging sprinter, important

15:20

for his experience, important for his

15:23

race craft, every time is on

15:25

the blocks. He needs to work

15:27

on his approach, the mental side

15:29

of sprinting, and then executing as

15:32

he rounds the bend and goes

15:34

up the strait. He'll also be

15:36

competing in the under-twenties 100 meters.

15:38

So not against the seniors, but

15:41

100 meters is really important for

15:43

Gout as well. We're expecting him

15:45

to continue to race that 100

15:48

meter length in the future, even

15:50

though he has been relatively quicker

15:52

at the 200 meter. length and

15:54

that shorter distance is really important

15:57

for him to work up getting

15:59

to speed faster. Look at Gata...

16:01

in really good spirits, despite losing

16:03

at Morrie Plant a couple of

16:06

weeks ago. But his team were

16:08

telling journalists that he was angry,

16:10

he lost. Ultimately, it'll be really

16:12

important to see how he handles

16:15

this pressure of nationals, given that

16:17

Kennedy beat him in what was

16:19

Gout's first senior race in Melbourne.

16:22

And every time Gout... runs on

16:24

a track now. It's a chance to

16:26

witness history. So I'm going to get

16:28

down there. I'm very lucky to get

16:31

down there and I encourage anyone to

16:33

tune in and get down there as

16:35

well. Who knows what Gout might run?

16:37

And do we know what's next for

16:40

Gout after Perth? Yeah, so he's

16:42

got his schedule loosely planned for

16:44

the year over the Easter weekend.

16:46

So later this month, he'll race

16:49

at the store gift. the famous

16:51

handicap race 120 meters raced on

16:53

grass, the regional Victorian town of

16:55

store will come alive a bit

16:58

like that stateman in Melbourne at

17:00

Lakeside. We're expecting huge crowds there

17:02

and huge buzz around gout. It's

17:04

going to be some sort of

17:07

carnival. But then after that, for

17:09

gat. It's still back to school.

17:11

He's in year 12 of the

17:14

Ipswich grammar. So he's got to

17:16

go back to school during the

17:18

mid-year holidays. He will go over

17:20

to Europe and race at an

17:23

event in the Czech Republic. And

17:25

there's probably going to be one

17:27

other meat that will race there,

17:30

back to schools, exams later in

17:32

the year. And then there's just

17:34

one other slight distraction. He's expected

17:37

to race there too. Wow. So

17:39

with the Olympics coming in

17:41

2032, they'll be in Brisbane,

17:44

how have Gout and Loughlin

17:46

reinvigorated athletics in Australia?

17:48

I read one article that

17:51

said Australia was on, quote,

17:53

the precipice of its greatest

17:55

era in track sprinting Jack.

17:57

Is that what we're witnessing?

18:00

Gout is simply the best of

18:02

many great stories in Australian athletics

18:04

right now. You look at Loughlin

18:07

Kennedy. He's doing things that have

18:09

never been done by an Australian

18:11

and maybe he's been overshadowed by

18:14

a Gout a bit, but then

18:16

you look elsewhere. Back at the

18:18

Paris Olympics last year, Nina Kennedy,

18:21

no relation to Lockey, she won

18:23

gold in the pole vault. At

18:25

that games there were seven track

18:28

and field medals. That's the most

18:30

since Melbourne in 1956. Then you

18:32

look a little bit later in

18:35

the year to the under 20

18:37

world championships in Peru where Gout

18:39

won silver, Australia won 14 medals

18:42

there. That was their best haul

18:44

ever. So what we're looking at

18:46

here, in the lead up to

18:49

2032, it couldn't be timed better

18:51

for this emergence of talent. Yes,

18:54

the focus will be on gout.

18:56

He's likely to be Australia's most

18:58

prominent athlete over the next six

19:01

or seven years. And there will

19:03

be a justified attention for him

19:05

and his form and his progress.

19:08

But wherever you look in Australian

19:10

athletics, we are set for a

19:12

very exciting period over the next

19:15

seven years. They're both really impressive

19:17

Jack and we'll be watching to

19:19

see what both Lucky and Gout

19:22

achieve in Perth this week and

19:24

beyond. Thanks so much. Thanks North.

19:26

That was Guardian Australia sports reporter

19:29

Jack Snape. You can find more

19:31

of Jack's reporting on Gout Garts

19:33

Sprinting Success on the guardian.com. And

19:36

we've linked to his latest piece

19:38

on the full story page. That's

19:40

it for today. This episode was

19:43

produced by Karishma Luthria and Kamila

19:45

Hannon, who also did the sound

19:47

design and mix. The executive producer

19:50

was Miles Herbert. If you like

19:52

this episode, don't forget to subscribe

19:54

or follow full story wherever you

19:57

listen to podcasts. You can also

19:59

leave us a review. I'm not

20:01

Haidat. Catch you next time.