‘Disgraceful’: Newspaper’s unforgivable front page Gout Gout blunder

Teenage sensation Gout Gout may be the biggest Australian star on the planet, but he was inexplicably mistaken in a glaring error.

Gout Gout has taken the athletics world by storm in 2024, but that hasn’t stopped one unforgivable blunder from being published.

The 16-year-old sensation appears well on track to become the biggest star in Australian athletics, but on Sunday he was mistaken for fellow Aussie athlete Peter Bol.

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In a story relating to Gout’s absurd multimillion-dollar deal with Adidas, The Sunday Age unfortunately used an image of Bol, 30, on the front page.

The error didn’t go unnoticed with fans on social media quickly highlighting the glaring mistake and calling out the paper.

Channel 7’s Jason Richardson wrote on X alongside an image of the front page: “Ummm, that’s Pete Bol.”

Caleb Bond wrote: “Wow. Disgraceful racism from The Age.”

Tennis journalist Todd Scoullar wrote: “What a monumental f*** up

Another wrote: “Come on @theage! Putting @pbol800’s photo to illustrate an article about Gout Gout is really sloppy to say the least!”

Peter Bol on the front page for a story about Gout Gout.

The blunder of using Bol in place of Gout appears to have come from images of when the pair trained together in Melbourne in early December.

A spokesperson from The Age apologised for the error in a statement provided to news.com.au on Monday.

“We sincerely apologise to Peter Bol and Gout Gout for the error made during the cropping of a photo featuring both athletes,” the statement read.

“A correction and apology will appear in tomorrow’s newspaper, and the incorrect photo is being removed from the digital edition of the Sunday Age.”

Peter Bol and Gout Gout training in Melbourne. Picture: Mark Stewart

Gout shot to global prominence after breaking Peter Norman’s 56-year-old national 200m record with a scintillating 20.04 seconds at that competition.

Two stunning runs in the 100m only added to the excitement and it led athletic royalty including Usain Bolt – who Gout is regularly compared to – and Michael Johnson to speak out about the teen phenomenon.

With his star well and truly on the rise, his manager James Templeton was keen to preach patience.

“We know we’re going to get plenty of interest from the big end of town,” Templeton told The Daily Telegraph.

“But we have time on our side. Gout Gout is only 16. He is going to be around for a long time. We aren’t in an indecent hurry.

“But if Qantas are interested, they can always give me a call.”

The teen sensation has set the world on fire in 2024. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Gout’s emergence had the likes of celebrity marketing guru Max Markson gushing over his “incredible future” and “enormous publicity”, but a wide range of athletics personalities are keen to push a different type of message for the young Queenslander.

Still a Year 11 student at Ipswich Grammar, Gout’s career will need to be carefully managed from here, a thought echoed by four-time Olympic gold medallist Johnson.

“Great performances!” the 57-year-old sprinting legend wrote after Gout broke Norman’s record. “Fun to think about his potential.

“But even with such great potential, realising 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 will train with current sprint king Noah Lyles in January and has plans to contest both senior and junior events in 2025.

Originally published as ‘Disgraceful’: Newspaper’s unforgivable front page Gout Gout blunder