Why Athletics Australia want to ‘temper’ the rise of teenage sprint sensation Gout Gout
- Gout Gout made an impression at the all-school athletics championships
- Won 100m and 200m doubles, already compared to Usain Bolt
- AThletics Australia chairman Jane Flemming said it is a “long road”.
- The plan is to manage expectations for the 16-year-old from Brisbane
Athletics Australia president Jane Flemming has stated that the sporting body will try to “tone down” the hype surrounding teenage sprint sensation Gout Gout.
The 16-year-old broke Peter Norman’s 56-year-old Australian All Schools Athletics Championships record last weekend in the 200m final, recording a blistering time of 20.04.
He also clocked a wind-assisted time of 10.04 seconds in his 100m heat, which was the fifth fastest time by an Australian in history in all conditions.
Gout has since become the name on everyone’s lips, with former track star and TV identity Matt Shirvington suggesting the prodigy has more potential than Olympic legend Usain Bolt.
Flemming – who won gold medals in the heptathlon and long jump at the Commonwealth Games – stressed expectations should not reach manic levels.
“You can imagine the moment he gets every sporting code, every agent, every commercial entity, they’re all chasing him and he hasn’t even completed Year 11 yet,” she told 2GB’s Wide World of Sports.
Athletics Australia president Jane Flemming has stated that the sporting body will try to ‘dampen down’ the hype surrounding teenage sprint sensation Gout Gout
Former track star turned TV identity Matt Shirvington suggested Gout has more potential than Olympic legend Usain Bolt
“Part of our responsibility as an organization is to ensure that the young man reaches his 30s in good physical and mental condition, so we have to try to tone it down…make sure he goes back to school, interacts with his parents. friends, having a good time with it, while still making progress.
‘It’s a long road. Rightly so, he will probably make it to the world championships next year and then the Olympics and another Olympics and maybe another Olympics after that.”
Flemming added that Athletics Australia wants to see Gout “have a long and fruitful career” – and the young player is fortunate to have a “fantastic coach in Di Sheppard.”
Meanwhile, Bolt himself has responded to the hype surrounding Gout, replying to a post on Jumper’s World with the simple comment: “He looks like a young me.”
It comes at a time when Athletics Australia chief executive Andrew Faichney said there is no ceiling on what Gout can achieve on the track.
“He is a great talent and is being raised well,” Faichney said in a statement.
‘His silver medal at the Under-20 World Cup already showed us that he has what it takes to compete internationally.
“The world is his oyster and we look forward to seeing what he can do in the coming years as he makes his mark on his first senior teams.”