Sprint sensation Gout Gout drawing superstar comparison
An Australian teenager is rewriting the record books and drawing comparisons to Jamaica’s all-time sprinting king.
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As the Paris Olympics gradually fade from memory, Australia may have unearthed a sprinting prodigy to help carry the nation into future Games.
His name is Gout Gout and at just 16 years of age, the sprint sensation is regularly putting his name in the Australian record books.
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A video has just surfaced online of Gout running a 100m race at the Queensland Athletics Championships in March this year in a blistering time of 10.29 seconds.
The teenager’s effort matched compatriot Rohan Browning’s heat run at the Paris Games and was just a tick outside fellow Aussie Josh Azzopardi’s 10.20s Olympic heat.
Gout’s effort improved upon the 10.57s he ran in November 2022, which set a new under-16 Australian record.
Gout roared away from the field in that 100m sprint, with his only obstacle seemingly finding a way to slow down, as you can see in the video player above.
It led to some fans teasingly comparing Gout to Forrest Gump, but the figure Gout is more regularly being likened to is Jamaican all-time great Usain Bolt.
Athletics Australia president and Olympian Jane Flemming was among the figures to make the Bolt comparison earlier this year and to his credit, Gout is not shying away from it.
“It’s pretty cool because Usain Bolt is arguably the greatest athlete of all time and just being compared to him is a great feeling,” Gout said at the national championships in April.
“Obviously I’m Gout Gout so I’m trying make a name for myself.
“If I can get to the level he was that would be a great achievement.”
That’s a fair understatement, with Bolt widely acknowledged as the GOAT of world sprinting, currently the 100m (9.58 secs) and 200m (19.19 secs) world record-holder.
Queenslander Gout, whose South Sudanese parents moved to Australia two years before he was born, also runs both distances.
He broke the national under-18 200m record last year with a time of 20.87 seconds and then lowered his own record with a 20.69-second run in January.
Gout also holds the national under-16 record in that event of 21.14s.
If you search for Gout’s name on Google, the first image that surfaces is actually Bolt with one of his eight Olympic gold medals.
That’s because the Aussie finished just 0.29 seconds outside Bolt’s time for the 200m at the same age with that 20.87s effort.
“It means a lot because I’ve been training so much for this,” Gout said at the time. “I was really nervous. The gun went and I was good and I just kept pushing.
“It’s like you can’t feel any ground contact, it feels like you are floating.
“This season has been mind-blowing for me. Last year I came fourth and sixth at nationals and then I came out at All Schools and won.
“I was really motivated because I took last year personally, it always feels better when you are winning.”
20.87 200m at the age of 15 👀
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) April 15, 2023
🇦🇺’s Gout Gout is a rising star on home soil as he sets a national U20 record ðŸ‘
pic.twitter.com/TD702HpIXO
Just like Bolt, it seems Gout also has the charisma and confidence displayed by many of the world’s top sprinters over the years.
“It feels like this is where I’m meant to be,” Gout said in April.
“Running is pretty much my favourite thing to do.
“Just being out there versing everyone, versing faster people … pushing out of the blocks and everything about the track.”
The Bolt comparison has been building on social media.
“Moves like Bolt. It’s scintillating,” was one comment on X after his 100m effort.
“The way he runs and leaves opponents behind him, remind us (of) a legend, Usain Bolt,” wrote another.
“His name is Gout Gout, remember the name. No way is this kid not gonna be an Olympian one day,” wrote a third.
“Even the name sounds iconic already,” added another.
A few observers also poked a little fun at Gout’s finish, after the youngster continued flying well down the track and over a long jump pit.
One joked: “Turns into Forrest Gump halfway through, apparently he’s still running to this day.”
Another wrote: “His brakes aren’t very good though.”
“After the 50m mark he looked like someone just pressed fast forward,” quipped another.
Gout will have another chance to demonstrate his talent this coming week as a member of the Australian team at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Lima, Peru, commencing August 27.
Originally published as Sprint sensation Gout Gout drawing superstar comparison
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