Untapered, unruffled and unstoppable, sprinter Gout Gout has continued his sparkling summer by adding another title to his collection at the Queensland Athletics Championships in Brisbane.
Three months after breaking the Australian 200m record at the same track, the teenager warmed up for the Maurie Plant meet in Melbourne by claiming the state under-20 100m crown on Saturday.
However the world junior silver medallist was upstaged by two-time Olympian Rohan Browning who slipped into Brisbane to post his fastest-ever season opener.
Making a cameo in the men's 100m B final, Browning posted a sizzling 10.12 seconds.
"I didn't want to run until I was ready to run quick," 27-year-old Browning said.
"It was rusty but the landscape has changed so much.
(Lachie) Kennedy, Gout, Josh Azzopardi, but I think I have some life left in me."
Earlier, Gout revealed he has been targeting the Maurie Plant meet on March 29 for something special so he is in the middle of a heavy training block.
Still, the 17-year-old clocked 10.39 into a slight headwind in his heat before running 10.38 in the final.
"It's one of the top 10 times of my career, so I couldn't be happier," he said.
It was a day of lightning times across two states as Azzopardi and the Australian men's 4x100m relay team dazzled at the Sydney Track Classic.
Azzopardi ran 10.06 to beat Sebastian Sultana (10.08) in the 100m but the marks will not stand as official times after they were assisted by a 2.4m/sec tail wind.
Earlier in the meet the men's sprint relay team featuring Azzopardi, Lachlan Kennedy, Christopher Ius and Calab Law set a national record 37.87.
Victorian Claudia Hollingsworth ran a season best 1m59.30 when she dipped under the two-minute mark in the women's 800m.
Gout recently returned from a Florida training camp where he trained with Olympic champion Noah Lyles and the American's coach Lance Brauman.
The gains he made in that brief stint were not so much physical.
He concentrated on adding psychological muscle to an already impressive mindset that has had to cope with extraordinary public focus.
Although still at school, he is racing against men, has signed a long-term sponsorship deal with sportswear giant Adidas and faces enormous expectation every time he competes.
The experience with Lyles exposed him to a larger-than-life character with a proven record for converting pressure into stellar performance.
"I just learned to be myself and follow my processes," Gout said.
"You can do all the work in the world but if you're in good mental shape you'll be right."
Gout's immediate target will be his first 200m race of the season at the Queensland Championships in Brisbane on Sunday.
