Sprint phenomenon Gout Gout turned 18 on Monday, marking the formal end to the childhood of Australia’s fastest man. It’s a sentence as ridiculous as the Queenslander’s times, which have propelled him towards a medal assault at the 2026 Commonwealth Games and World Junior Championships.

The past 12 months delivered Gout a first national title and a first senior world championships semi-final appearance. He was clocked under 10s in the 100m and under 20s in the 200m, even if the times were scrubbed from records due to excessive tailwinds.

Yet he believes his achievements off the track – in a year during which he completed year 12 at school – are just as significant, including the purchase of a newly built home for him and his family.

“It’s definitely a privilege being able to provide back to my family what they’ve given to me,” he said, speaking to Nova Brisbane’s David Lutteral before Christmas, revealing he had settled on a property not far from the existing family home in western Brisbane.

“As you get older, one of your dreams is buying your parents a house or buying your parents a car or things of that nature, and I’ve done one of those things,” Gout said.

“[I’m] definitely proud of myself for sure, and sometimes it’s a pinch yourself moment for sure, knowing that I’m literally just 17, turning 18, and I’ve already done these great things.”

Gout has plans to go to university, but will take a gap year in 2026 to focus on his training. Coach Di Sheppard and manager James Templeton remain his key advisers as he embarks on the next phase of his development. “I’ve built a very stable circle and, especially as an athlete, you’ve got to have that circle around you to get to the next level,” the sprinter said.

Heading into a new year without school, Gout’s open diary means he can put in time at the track or gym and recover as required throughout the day, rather than schedule sessions around his classes. “I can train a lot more efficiently and recover better and have more energy to focus on the actual training as well, aside from school and school work,” he said. “It won’t change too much, but it’ll definitely help me.”

It has now been more than a year since Gout broke Peter Norman’s longstanding national 200m record as a 16-year-old. He bettered that mark in 2025 multiple times, although due to windy conditions two sub-20s runs aren’t recognised.

His current personal best of 20.02s was set in June, at his first senior overseas meet in Ostrava. It is the fifth fastest 200m for a 17-year-old in athletics history. Only Usain Bolt and American Erriyon Knighton – who is now serving a suspension after failing a drug test – ran quicker in legal wind conditions before their 18th birthdays.

But Gout’s 19.84s at the national championships in Perth in April was perhaps more impressive, even if the 2.2m/s tailwind was fractionally above the 2m/s legal limit. No one has run a faster 200m as a 17-year-old, although Knighton also has a 19.84s in calm conditions.

The Australian is adamant he can go faster. “My start, that’s obviously a part where I can drop times majorly,” he said. “Just staying really relaxed, and just staying really in position and head screwed on properly, because the more relaxed you are, the faster you run.”

His focus for the upcoming year is the World Junior Championships in Eugene in August, but he has also expressed a desire to race at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow immediately prior to that event.

Before that busy northern hemisphere summer, he is set to run at the Queensland titles and the Maurie Plant meet in March, and the nationals in Sydney in April. He is likely to race overseas in the lead-up to Glasgow and Eugene, although his team is still finalising his schedule in a year he intends to incorporate more 100m races alongside his preferred 200m.

Gout understands he faces a year in an ever-brightening spotlight, but he said his breakout 2025 has prepared him well for what is to come. “It’s definitely been different to experience for sure, especially being a 16, 17-year-old kid, you get pushed into this world and you don’t really know what to do or what to expect,” he said. “The more interviews I do, the more comfortable I’m becoming.”

“Brand Gout”, for now, can wait. In coming days he will celebrate becoming an adult with a family gathering, before marking the occasion with his athletics associates. He is also considering a trip to the go-kart track with his friends.

“They treat me like ‘regular Gout’,” he said. “You know, I’m not no superstar, I’m not no ‘fastest man in the world’, I’m just ‘regular Gout’, and I definitely think that helps me a lot.”