The family of Olympic legend and silver medallist sprinter Peter Norman have given their unwavering support to 16-year-old phenomenon Gout Gout after he broke Norman’s long-standing 200m record over the weekend.
Norman is famous for winning the silver medal in the 200m sprint at the 1968 Mexico City summer Olympic Games where he set an Oceania record of 20.06 seconds.
Nobody had come close to Norman’s record until the 2024 Australian All Schools Athletics Championship in Brisbane, where teenage sprinting sensation Gout broke it by 0.02 seconds.
Gout’s time of 20.04 ranked as the second fastest under-18 performance in the world of all time, and made him only the second under-18 athlete to surpass Usain Bolt’s best time in this age category.
You might think there would be disappointment among Norman’s family after their legendary relative’s seemingly unbreakable record came tumbling down, but daughter and Echuca local Sandy Kadri said her family were over the moon.
“We as a family are happy that the record has been broken and really quite ecstatic about it,” she said.
“I think he (Peter) would’ve been absolutely chuffed; he was a PE teacher, and I think it was fitting that the record was broken at national all schools.
“We have been watching Gout Gout for a number of years now, so I think the family was pretty aware of him. He’s been developing and improving steadily so it was pretty clear it was going to be him.
“We are all absolutely thrilled and very relieved for someone to have beaten it. There’s a high level of excitement in our family, everyone is really happy.”
Norman is perhaps best known for standing in solidarity with African American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos on the 200m podium in 1968, where the pair could be seen raising their fists during the American national anthem in support, Smith later said, of human rights.
While Norman didn’t raise his fist, he wore a badge above the Australian crest that showed his support for the Olympic Project for Human Rights during the ceremony and would become a recognisable ally in the Black Power movement.
Gout Gout, whose family is from South Sudan, broke the record over half a century later, and Norman’s nephew Matt Norman emphasised how pleased Norman would have been for him to be the one to do it.
“It's a wonderful achievement from a young kid, that is inspirational and for Peter’s record to finally be broken is amazing, he would have absolutely loved this moment,” he said.
“I think he would’ve been prouder that this young man broke the record over anyone else. Peter stood up for all the right reasons and did what he thought was the right thing to do.
“Before Peter died, he always wanted to see a young Aussie break his record.
“He had held the record for 40 years at the time of his death so to have seen this would have been a very proud moment for him.”