Australian teen Gout Gout’s record run earns Usain Bolt comparison

MELBOURNE – Schoolboy sensation Gout Gout is bathing in new-found celebrity status, and savouring comparisons with Usain Bolt following his eye-catching runs at the Australian schools championships in Brisbane.

The 16-year-old ran the 200 metres in 20.04 seconds on Dec 7 to break the national record Peter Norman set at the 1968 Olympics.

The son of migrants from war-torn South Sudan, Gout also clocked a blistering 10.04sec in the 100m heats on Dec 6 in a wind of +3.4, the fourth-fastest time in all conditions by an Australian.

Gout’s performances went viral on social media and earned a shout-out from Jamaican great Bolt, who posted on Instagram: “He looks like young me.” The eight-gold Olympic champion still holds both the 100m and 200m world records of 9.58sec and 19.19sec.

Now the biggest name in Australian athletics while finishing Year 11 at high school, Gout said the reaction since the weekend had been overwhelming. “Obviously it has been mad and hasn’t really sunk in yet,” he told the Australian media.

“Probably not for a couple of months I think, but it has been a crazy response. There have been quite a few people reach out but Usain, that took the boat, for sure.”

Gout met Adidas executives in Melbourne on Dec 10, having recently signed a contract with the apparel giant. He will head to Florida in January to join Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles at a training camp organised by Adidas, which sponsors both athletes.

With Australia set to host the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, the country’s athletics chiefs are thrilled to have a potential track superstar in their midst but are also hoping to temper expectations and ensure Gout can live a normal childhood.

“He’s so young and you can imagine he’s going to have every sporting code, every agent, every commercial entity, they’ll all be chasing him and he hasn’t even finished Year 11,” Athletics Australia president Jane Fleming told Sydney radio station 2GB.

“Part of our responsibility as an organisation is to make sure the young man gets to his thirties in good physical and mental shape.

“So we need to try and temper it, make sure he gets back to school, does Year 12 next year, hangs out with his mates, has a good time with it all, while still progressing him on the way through.” REUTERS