Teen sensation Gout Gout stuns with silver-medal finish at World Athletics U20 Championships

Australian sprint prodigy Gout Gout has announced himself on the world stage after dashing to silver in the men's 200m final at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, Peru.

Making his global championship debut, Gout delivered a personal-best run of 20.60 seconds to finish second behind South Africa's Bayanda Walaza.

After missing the start and finding himself under pressure coming off the bend, the 16-year-old Queenslander put together a blistering final 50m — lengthening his stride to close in on his international rival.

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Remarkably, Walaza is nearly two years older than Gout.

Speaking afterwards, Gout was pleased with his effort, which also saw him lower his previous under-18 national record of 20.69.

"I feel really relieved after a long two weeks of being in Lima," he told Athletics Australia afterwards.

"I've been training, grinding and waiting patiently for this moment to happen. Now that it's done, I'm really glad and ready to rest up for the relay."

Gout was born in Australia to parents who immigrated from South Sudan.

Both his heat and semi final sprints in Peru raised eyebrows — earning comparisons to that of sprint legend Usain Bolt in his younger years.

Off the back of a solid debut performance at the Olympic Games earlier this month, fellow countrywoman Torrie Lewis also picked up the silver medal in the women's 200m.

Lewis finished behind British Virgin Islands competitor Adaejah Hodge in a career-best time of 22.88.

Adding to Australia's success, Olympic semi-finalists Claudia Hollingsworth and Peyton Craig also picked up a pair of silver medals in their respective 800m finals before Delta Amidzovski finished in the 100m hurdles.

The bronze medal adds to the long jump title she secured on day two of the meet.

The youngest member of Australia's team, 15-year-old Mason McGroder, also proved that age is just a number as he leapt to bronze in the men's long jump with a personal best effort of 7.80m

As a result, the Australian team finished the afternoon session on day four with six medals.

This brings the nation's medal tally to 10 equals the nation's best-ever performance at a World Athletics Under 20 Championships with a day of competition to spare.

The World Under 20 Championships concludes on Saturday, August 31.