Gout Gout has emerged as one of sprinting’s biggest talents (Image: Twitter)
Rising Australian sprinting sensation Gout Gout has drawn comparisons to the iconic Cathy Freeman, as the 16-year-old continues to make waves in the athletics world. The young prodigy has swiftly become one of the most talked-about talents this year.
His profile has skyrocketed especially after smashing one of ‘s numerous records , clinching a silver medal in the 200 metres. Clocking in a remarkable time of 20.60 seconds, Gout edged past Bolt’s best record by 0.01 seconds, set in 2002 prior to the Jamaican sprinter’s 16th birthday.
Gout’s stellar performance has magnetised attention, and most recently, Australian sportscasting legend Bruce McAvaney showered the Queensland-born speedster with high praise, likening him to Olympic icon Cathy Freeman, a testament to the towering expectations placed on his young shoulders.
Freeman herself won Commonwealth gold in the 4x100m relay at merely 16 years of age during the 1990 Games, later securing a silver medal in the 400m at the 1996 Games. Four years later, she gloriously captured Olympic gold on home soil in Sydney in 2000, reports .
Speaking with Code Sports, McAvaney marvelled at Gout’s extraordinary capabilities, questioning: “Has there been anyone more exciting?” He then noted: “Freeman was but he’s at a more mature stage than Cathy was at 16 in terms of what he is doing.”
Gout’s impressive performances include breaking his own under-16s national record with a 100m time of 10.29 seconds at the Queensland Athletics Championships in March. His time at the under-20 world championships ranks him as the 57th fastest in the world this year, just over a second shy of Bolt’s 15-year-old world record of 19.19 seconds.
One of Bolt’s longstanding records was broken by Gout earlier this year (Image: Getty)
Gout has drawn comparisons to Bolt, 38, after a remarkable 2024 season, but his manager has tried to downplay the hype to avoid putting pressure on the young athlete. Despite the inevitable comparisons, James Templeton has attempted to keep the teenager’s feet on the ground, telling ABC Sport: “I’ve avoided using the ‘UB’ [Bolt] comparison. I think that’s unfair to a young athlete. For 18 months I’ve basically said a blanket ‘no’ to every media outlet in Australia that has asked.
“We just want to allow him to be a normal kid at school. We don’t want him to have any distraction. It’s all going to be ahead of him. We want his life to be as normal as possible for as long as possible. But the modern world with viral videos, despite saying no to media, he has gone viral and everybody is starting to get to know him.”