MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Australian sprinting prodigy Gout Gout ran the 100 metres in a wind-assisted 9.99 seconds twice in Perth on Thursday to underline his enormous potential.
The 17-year-old schoolboy, who has earned comparisons to Jamaican great Usain Bolt, clocked 9.99 (3.5m/s) in the heats of under-20 national championships at WA Athletics stadium and matched it exactly in the final (2.6m/s) after an uneven start out of the blocks.
"That's what I was hoping for," said Gout, who thumped his chest in delight after crossing the line metres in front.
"I didn't get the start I anticipated."
Gout was bidding to become the second Australian to break the 10-second barrier, more than 20 years after Patrick Johnson ran 9.93 in Mito, Japan in 2003.
While Gout's best legal time remains 10.17, Thursday's run improved on his wind-assisted 10.04 at the national school championships last December.
The son of immigrants from war-torn South Sudan will run in the senior 200m at Perth's national championships as the country's record holder, looking to become the first Australian first to break the 20-second barrier.
Gout ran 20.04 in the 200m in Brisbane in December to break the Australian record Peter Norman set at the 1968 Olympics.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Ed Osmond)
