Sprinting starlet Gout Gout’s manager has urged caution after the youngster’s remarkable rise in the world of athletics.
The Australian has made headlines in recent months for his Olympic standard-times whilst still aged just 16, earning him comparisons to the legendary Usain Bolt in the process.
Gout smashed the fastest man alive’s 200m event record, set in 2002, at the Under-20 World Championship in August, with a staggering 20.60 second effort.
Most recently, the teenager ran the fastest time by an Australian in 31 years, clocking a 20.29 second 200m at the All Schools Queensland Championship.
His exploits have also alerted global sports giants Adidas, who moved to offer him a sponsorship deal.
The endorsement sees the Queensland native join Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles in their ranks, with an opportunity to train with the US sensation in the States soon to come.
In a recent interview with ABC Sport, Gout’s manager James Templeton revealed: “We have the opportunity to go to Florida and join the training group of Noah Lyles and [coach] Lance Brauman.
“There’s about 16 or 18 top sprinters there. We’ll be heading over for two or three weeks. That’ll be a great opportunity, a wonderful educational experience.
“I haven’t heard from Noah, but he’s a great guy and I’m sure he’ll be happy to take the younger guy under his wing a little bit.”
The encounter will no doubt prove invaluable for Gout, with Lyles boasting three Olympic medals, as well as the third-fastest 200m time in history, with a personal best of 19.31 seconds
Despite the 16-year-old’s rising stock, however, Templeton admitted that every effort is being made to reduce outside noise.
He continued: “I’ve avoided using the ‘UB’ [Bolt] comparison. I think that’s unfair to a young athlete.
“For 18 months I’ve basically said a blanket ‘no’ to every media outlet in Australia that has asked. We just want to allow him to be a normal kid at school. We don’t want him to have any distraction.
“It’s all going to be ahead of him. We want his life to be as normal as possible for as long as possible.
“But the modern world with viral videos, despite saying no to media, he has gone viral and everybody is starting to get to know him.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by former sprinter Justin Gatlin, who pleaded with people to stop adding unnecessary pressure to the new generation.
It is hard not to take notice of Gout’s huge potential, with the track star already boasting multiple national records.
This includes the Under-16 100m record of 10.57 seconds he set as a 14-year-old, and the Under-18 200m record of 20.87 seconds.
And while Templeton was keen to keep his protégé’s feet on the ground, he did concede that Gout possesses real star quality.
He said: “Having seen a lot of great young athletes and sprinters over the years, I’m firmly convinced he has that something a little bit special to kick through to the very highest levels.
“It’s great watching him run. He’s got that flow and rhythm which is just mesmerising. Watching him come off the bend and in that last 50-60 metres, it’s very special.”
And with Gout’s 100m personal best of 10.29 seconds just shy of the 10 second flat required to qualify for the Olympics, the hype surrounding him is set to continue to grow in the coming years.
The young Aussie is on course to compete for a medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, while he will still only be 24 when the home Games of Brisbane 2032 come around.
