Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout‘s tall frame, long stride and charismatic appeal only scratch the surface of his similarities to track icon Usain Bolt. The 16-year-old’s talent is now challenging the legendary speed of Bolt himself. Gout’s performance at Saturday’s Australian All Schools Athletics Championships in Nathan, Australia, surpassed the Jamaican’s capabilities at the same age. “He looks like young me,” Bolt said on social media.
A day after surging to an outstanding (but wind-assisted) 100m time, Gout went on to break Peter Norman‘s 56-year-old national 200m record of 20.06 seconds and set a new Oceanian record. Gout’s time of 20.04 seconds is a massive jump from his previous best of 20.29 seconds, and surpasses Bolt’s best time at 16, 20.13 seconds.
In early November, Bolt appeared on the High Performance Podcast and shared his experience as a remarkably talented young athlete. “I was 15 when I won the world juniors,” he said. “I was really young and I was really talented, so I didn’t have to work as hard. When I got to the professional level, and I felt like it was just going to be easy.”
“I got to the stage where I would go to meets and I would lose,” Bolt remarked. “I was like, this is strange, this is new. So it took me a while to understand.”
Great performances! Fun to think about his potential. But even with such great potential, realizing it is a whole different thing. The greater the potential, the higher the risk. He’ll need a solid team around him to help him navigate the journey. https://t.co/lCHDOzj8gG
— Michael Johnson (@MJGold) December 9, 2024
On X, Gout also received similar advice from retired Olympic champion Michael Johnson. “Great performances!” the Grand Slam Track founder wrote. “Fun to think about his potential. But even with such great potential, realizing it is a whole different thing. The greater the potential, the higher the risk. He’ll need a solid team around him to help him navigate the journey.”
Gout Gout is actually Guot Guot, and he could have been Canadian
Gout’s parents told 7 News that the athlete’s name is supposed to be Guot Guot (pronounced gwot), but in 2005, while the couple was fleeing South Sudan, the family name was misspelled during translation from Arabic. Official records still document the family name as “Gout.” The sprinter’s parents also revealed that they had planned to move to Canada, but the Australian government provided its documents first. The pair opted to settle down in Brisbane, where Gout was born in 2007.
