There is plenty of excitement about Australian sprinter Gout Gout, with hopes the 17-year-old can follow in the footsteps of Olympic legend Usain Bolt, but man himself has issued a warned to the teenager
Olympic legend Usain Bolt has warned up-and-coming sprinting star Gout Gout that will find it “tough” to transition to elite level competition, despite being tipped to follow in his footsteps.
Bolt is widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time after registering world record times for both the 100m and 200m events, collecting a total of eight gold medals at three separate Olympic Games.
Many athletes have tried and failed to break his 100m record of 9.58 seconds, while his record at 200m currently stands at 19.19 seconds. But Australian star Gout has earned comparisons to Bolt after a string of superb running performances and he will make his debut at the World Championships in Tokyo next week, competing in the 200m.
There have even been suggestions the teenager could win a gold medal on home soil when the Olympic Games come to Brisbane in 2032. Before then, there is the 2028 Games in Los Angeles – but that might come too early for Gout.
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Bolt agrees he deserves plaudits for his early progress, but insisted he could struggle to make the transition between junior and senior competition. “If he continues on this track it’s going to be good but it’s all about getting everything right. I mean, it’s never just easy,’ he told reporters in Tokyo on Thursday.
“It’s always easier when you’re younger because I was there, I used to do great things when I was young but the transition to senior from junior is always tougher.”
Bolt said his advice to the “talented” youngster would be focusing on his craft and getting the right people in to support him before making the next step to the elite level. He continued: “It’s all about if you get the right coach, the right people around you, if you’re focused enough, so there will be a lot of factors to determine if he’s going to be great, and if he’s going to continue on the same trajectory to a championship or Olympics.
“He’s very talented, with the times he’s running now and he’s really been doing well. That’s something that you love to see because you want athletes to do well. The more athletes do well, the bigger the sport is, and I’m always a supporter of track and field getting bigger and doing bigger things.”
Gout will be competing against some fierce and experienced runners when he arrives in Japan for the Championships, with Olympic stars Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek leading the top stars in attendance.
