WATCH: Townsville teenager smashes state championship 100m record in Gout Gout-esque run
Updated . First published at
A 16-year-old Townsville schoolboy unleashed a record-breaking run over 100 metres in his home town on Friday that can fittingly be described as Gout Gout-esque.
Uwezo Lubenda, a year 11 student at Calvary Christian College, rocketed through a 100m race in 10.35 seconds at the Queensland Representative School Sport state athletics titles to smash a record that had stood for 15 years.
The state championships' previous age-16 record was 10.73, set by Hugh Donovan in 2010.
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Uwezo Lubenda after Friday's record-breaking run. Supplied
The fastest Gout ran over 100m as a 16-year-old was 10.17, recorded by the prodigious Ipswich sprinter at the national school titles in Brisbane last December, three weeks out from his 17th birthday.
It's been reported by other publications that Lubenda is faster than Gout was at 16, but the 10.57 referenced in those reports was run when Gout was still only 14.
Gout clocked a 10.31, a 10.29 and a 10.17 as a 16-year-old, and a 10.50, a 10.48 and a 10.43 at 15.
Regardless, the 10.35 clocked by Lubenda on Friday is only 0.18 of a second outside the fastest time run by Gout at the same age.
Prior to Friday's run, Lubenda's personal best was 10.42.
He had a legal wind of +1.6 metres per second at his back on Friday.
Uwezo Lubenda: remember the name. Michael Thomas Sports Photography
Former Australian sprinter Paul Di Bella, who ran at the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympics, presented Lubenda his medal for winning the 16 years 100m title.
"Man, I feel amazing," Lubenda said, per the Townsville Bulletin.
"I was kind of hoping for a time like that, and I wasn't thinking too much about it, but I'm really grateful."
The young gun is now awaiting the semi-finals and final of the 200m, taking place on Saturday.
His 200m personal best is 21.88 seconds.
Lubenda was born in Mozambique in 2009 and immigrated from the Congo to Australia with his family in 2013.
He will be 23 when the Brisbane 2032 Olympics arrive.
"My goal is 2032 Brisbane; I've got my eyes on that," Lubenda told the Townsville Bulletin last year.
Gout turns 18 on December 29; Lubenda turns 17 on January 23.
