Teenagers are taking over the track world. At Saturday’s AGN Championships in Pretoria, South Africa, 19-year-old South African sprint star Bayanda Walaza stormed to the fastest 100m time in the world this year, clocking 9.99 seconds to become the first person in 2025 to dip under the elusive 10-second barrier. The next day, at the Queensland State Championships, 17-year-old Australian phenom Gout Gout ran a world-leading 20.05 over 200m, and in the final, went on clock a wind-assisted 19.98 seconds–the first sub-20 run in Australian history.
Walaza’s world-leading 100m
Walaza’s run marks the fifth-fastest 100m performance by a junior athlete in history. His time also shattered the national U20 record by 0.04 seconds.
August was a monumental month for Walaza. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, the teen was a member of the South African quartet that raced to a silver medal in the 4 x 100m relay–finishing runner-up to Canada. A few weeks later, at the World U20 Championships in Lima, Peru, Walaza won 100m gold before edging out Gout, the 200m favourite, for the 200m title.
Gout battles for title of world’s fastest teen
Gout’s 20.05 fell short of his own Australian record by a mere 0.01 seconds. His performance leads the world rankings by a wide margin of 0.08 seconds. His sub-20 second performance marks a historic moment for the nation, despite the time not counting for official records. (The wind reading of +2.4 m/s exceeds the legal limit of 2.0 m/s.)
Gout signed a pro contact with Adidas in October, and in December, at just 16, broke the Australian record with a massive personal best of 20.04 seconds. Many track and field fans began drawing comparisons of his tall stature and running style to those of Jamaican track legend Usain Bolt.