‘I’m not really happy’: Gout Gout’s parents act to change his name

Gout Gout is the talk of world sport after his record-breaking weekend, but his parents say we’ve been getting one thing wrong.

Gout Gout might just be Australia’s biggest sporting star of the next decade, so we better get his name right.

After a record-breaking weekend, his parents have now revealed everyone’s been getting it wrong.

The 16-year-old, who turns 17 in late December, broke the Australian 200m record on Saturday at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships.

His time of 20.04sec broke Peter Norman’s mark of 20.06sec set at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

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The 56-year-old record was the longest standing record in Australian athletics and one of the most iconic, given Norman stood on the podium with Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos as they did their Black Power salute.

Gout also ran 10.04sec in the 100m, on Friday the fifth fastest time by an Australian in history in any conditions. But because of the tailwind, it won’t go into the record books.

The teenager’s floating running style has already drawn comparisons to Usain Bolt, and his name has become an iconic part of his rise to fame. Gout’s 200m time is faster than what Bolt ran when he was 16.

But his father has now said Gout Gout is not his real name.

His dad Bona told 7News his son’s name is actually Guot and is pronounced “Gwot”.

Gout’s parents want to change his name back to the original spelling and pronunciation so their son isn’t associated with the disease gout.

“His name is Guot, it’s supposed to be Guot,” Gout’s father Bona told Seven.

“When I see people called him Gout Gout I’m not really happy for him.

“I know that Gout Gout is a disease name but I don’t want my son to be called a disease name ... it’s something that’s not acceptable.”

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare states: “Gout is a “form of inflammatory arthritis which occurs when excess uric acid built up in the blood leads to inflammation in one or more joints. The big toe joint is most commonly affected.”

Gout Gout after winning the 200m Australian All Schools track and field championships in Brisbane. Saturday December 7, 2024. Picture John Gass

His dad explained Guot became Gout due to an Arabic spelling mix-up when the parents fled to Egypt.

They had planned to go to Canada but Australian government documents arrived first, leading to them settling in Brisbane.

Gout was born in Ipswich, Queensland in 2007, two years after his parents Bona and Monica arrived in Australia after leaving Egypt.

The 16-year-old went viral around the world over the weekend, but his record-breaking exploits were somewhat soured by some ugly reaction from viewers who claimed the athlete should not be referred to as “Australian”.

Gout Gout winning the 200m at the Australian All Schools championships. Picture John Gass

He already has a contract with Adidas. Picture: Richard Walker

Last month Gout signed a professional contract with Adidas, and the world is starting to realise just how a big a star he could be on the track.

“He looks like young me,” Bolt wrote in a direct Instagram message to the Jumpers World account.

He has been invited to train with Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles in the American’s squad in Florida in January.

Gout’s 200m time is under the qualifying standard for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September.

He still has Year 12 to complete next year and Australian athletics great John Steffensen cautioned against making the leap from junior ranks to senior competition too soon.

Bolt was world junior 200m champion and World Athletics’ rising star in 2002, but didn’t make it out of the first round at the 2004 Olympics, and finished last in the world championships 200m final in 2005.

Gout Gout is already being compared to Usain Bolt. Photos: Getty.

“The reality is junior running and pro running are two different ball games,” Steffensen told Code Sports.

“What I would like to see with him is he gets wrapped up in cotton wool and doesn’t get exposed to senior running any time soon.

“He needs to keep learning and acquiring skills, I’m not knocking the kid because he is a beast but people forget that Usain had a tough few years post world juniors.”

Once Bolt reached his twenties, he won silver at the 2007 world championships and famously burst onto the scene, winning triple gold at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

Like Bolt, Gout is potentially better suited to the 200m, but he could well become the first Australian since Patrick Johnson, who holds the national record of 9.93 seconds.

Originally published as ‘I’m not really happy’: Gout Gout’s parents act to change his name