How Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout is staying grounded as hype train picks up speed

Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout is seemingly doing the impossible – clocking sub-10s times at 17 years old. But there’s one person who thinks his achievements don’t ‘feel very special’.

Amid the euphoria which swept around the stadium after Gout Gout’s stunning sub-10 second performance, there was one person who was keeping things in perspective.

That was the 17-year-old kid.

While legendary broadcaster Bruce McAvaney spewed out superlatives in the commentary box and kids were going giddy trying to get selfies with the star of the show, Gout was taking the whole thing in his very long stride.

Back in December, just days before he broke Peter Norman’s 200m Australian record which he’d set at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, the then 16-year-old had been similarly matter-of-fact when talking about breaking the magical 10-second barrier for the 100m.

“Sub 10 will definitely happen, yeah,” Gout had declared.

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Gout Gout (C) puts in a blistering run at the Australian Athletics Championships. Picture: AFP

Fast forward four months and that same attitude was there as he soaked up running 9.99sec twice in two hours. While others were revelling in the moment, he was already thinking of the big picture.

“It doesn’t feel very special because this is the stuff you have to do to get to the next level, sub-10 was inevitable, it happened today so I just have to keep doing it,“ Gout said.

For the Queensland schoolboy and his coach Di Sheppard, the events of Thursday night at the WA Athletics Stadium were just part of the plan.

Sheppard told Gout when she first saw him run at Ipswich Grammar School that he was going to win an Olympic gold medal.

Gout Gout is congratulated by his coach Di Sheppard. Picture: Getty

And before the Australian all-schools championships in December where Gout broke Norman’s record and became the most talked about sportsperson in the country, his coach was already talking about the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.

“We’re aiming for double gold, that’s the plan in Brisbane,” Sheppard declared.

That’s at the end of the list of career goals, one of the first was to break 10 seconds because if you can’t do that you won’t be a factor on the international scene.

Only two Australians had previously been able to do it.

Patrick Johnson did it with an illegal wind running 9.88sec in Perth in early 2003 before getting the right conditions in May that year to set the Australian record of 9.93sec in Japan.

Gout Gout celebrates with fans after winning the men's U20 100m final. Picture: Getty

Rohan Browning ran 9.96sec with an illegal +3.3 metres per second tail wind in early 2021 before later that year going on to make the 100m semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

The fact Gout isn’t officially in the record books is because of the vagaries of the Fremantle Doctor, the cooling sea breeze which arrives late afternoon in Perth.

Five minutes before his heat, the first round of the women’s U/20 100m was run with a perfect +1.4 wind. Gout’s heat had a +3.5 tail wind.

It was the same situation a couple of hours later for the respective finals. The women’s race was again +1.4, Gout’s +2.6.

Remarkably, Gout’s two races were the only ones all day at the stadium which registered illegal tail winds.

Rohan Browning has also cracked the 10-second barrier with an illegal tail wind. Picture: Michael Klein

He was stiff but that technicality wasn’t the story afterwards. The teenager showed he is ready to live up to his end of the bargain in regards to Goutmania which has swept the athletics world.

McAvaney hasn’t seen anything like it since the days of Cathy Freeman around the Sydney 2000 Olympics and he was excited with what he saw on Thursday night.

“The eyes of the world are on him,” Bruce McAvaney said on 7plus. “He’s a young genius. When the wind is his friend, we know what’s coming.

”He’s produced something for the ages . . . isn’t he beautiful to watch?“

The eyes of the nation will again be watching on Sunday when Gout runs in the open men’s 200m event against Australia’s fastest man this year Lachlan Kennedy.

The fastest man in Australia this year: Lachlan Kennedy. Picture: Getty

Kennedy provided the first minor blimp on the Gout radar when he upstaged the teenager in his first senior men’s race over 200m at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne two weeks ago.

After his sub-10 heroics, Gout showed his maturity by not losing it about the wind while others were, instead quickly refocusing on his next assignment.

“Sometimes it (the wind) is frustrating, but you can’t control what you can’t control, and the wind is something you can’t control. you just have to learn how to run with it and run against it,” he said.

“I saw the clock, I saw another sub-10, I was happy – national (Under 20) champion.

“It definitely improves my confidence levels, sub-10 is what every sprinter hopes for and to get it this early in the season is definitely great.

“So just getting that sub-10 definitely boosts that confidence especially for my main event, the 200. Hopefully I will go faster but I guess we will find out on Sunday.”

Originally published as How Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout is staying grounded as hype train picks up speed