Teen sprint sensation Gout Gout just eclipsed one of Usain Bolt’s records. The Jamaican icon has this advice for him.
By Aleks Klosok, Amanda Davies, CNN
Geneva, Switzerland (CNN) — Sprinting legend Usain Bolt has told CNN Sports he hopes teenage phenom Gout Gout “finds the right people” to have around him as the 18-year-old continues his meteoric rise in the world of track and field.
The Australian has set the sport alight with a series of eye-catching performances that have seen parallels drawn between him and the widely regarded greatest sprinter of all time.
So much so that Bolt has previously said that the wonder kid Aussie “looks like young me.”
Gout generated global headlines earlier this month by claiming the 200m title at the senior Australian championships in Sydney in an astonishing 19.67 seconds.
Not only did he set a new under-20 world record, the Queenslander surpassed the time of 19.93 seconds set by the Jamaican in 2004.
Bolt was just 17 back then and never improved on that time as a teenager.
With increased success and growing stardom comes greater scrutiny and susceptibility to distraction – something Bolt is all too aware of having been in Gout’s shoes.
“At that young age, because I was there, you start getting put left and right and then you forget track and field,” he says, speaking at the watchmaking show, Watches and Wonders, in Geneva, Switzerland.
“Hopefully, he has the right set of people to guide him and keep him focused on track and field because the rest of the stuff will always be there.
“But if you mess up on track and field, then it all goes away.”
Diamond League showdown
With every Gout improvement sparking a media frenzy in Australia, the teenager now has his sights sets on the international stage.
It was recently confirmed that the sprint sensation will make his senior debut on the Diamond League circuit, athletics’ premier global series, in Oslo, Norway on June 10.
And it won’t be any old race. It’s set to be a 200m showdown against none other than the reigning Olympic champion, Letsile Tebogo.
The Botswana athlete has already showered praise on Gout, saying last year that he has the potential to be one of the greatest athletes in history.
Excitement and anticipation will undoubtedly mount in the coming months, but Bolt is wary of setting expectations too high as he transitions into the sport’s upper echelon.
“It’s so big … It’s totally different,” he recalls.
“I remember coming out of high school going on the circuit, I felt like I was on top of the world because I was winning and running good.
“When I got on the circuit, I didn’t win one race!
“I know it’s going to be an eye-opener, and I hope it doesn’t get him down but motivate him to work even harder.
“I think in the first year you will learn a lot and understand what you need to do to be better.”
‘Every day is not gonna be a great day’
Gout won’t be taking part at this year’s Commonwealth Games as he focuses on pursuing gold at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Oregon in August.
It was back in 2002 at these championships (formerly known as World Junior Championships) where Bolt announced himself as a sprint prodigy.
Racing in front of his home fans in Jamaica’s National Stadium in Kingston, Bolt – just 15 years old at the time – won the 200m, becoming the youngest-ever male world junior champion in any event.
Fast forward 24 years, Gout will be one of the favorites in the same race as he seeks new heights in his ever-upwards trajectory.
“He’s a massive young talent,” the Jamaican says.
“Every time you step on that track, everybody’s going to always be looking for a fast time, always looking for you to do great, so hopefully he has the right people to help him to understand that not every day is gonna be a great day.”
Regardless of whether he succeeds, the talk around the young contender to Bolt has given the sport a shot in the arm at a time when it’s battling for new eyeballs and still, in part, seeking one or multiple personalities to fill the void left by the indomitable Jamaican.
‘Athletics needs a revamp’
Bolt, who announced his retirement from elite sprinting in 2017, admits he’s currently worried about the state of his beloved sport.
He admits that he misses the buzz of the competition and speaks of the nerves he felt watching his compatriots compete at the recent World Indoor Athletics Championships.
That electric atmosphere and sprinkling of stardust is something he believes is currently missing from the sport.
“I’m not the only one saying it,” he explains.
“People are always saying ‘Track and field is going down … I don’t watch it because you left.’
“Athletics needs a bit of a revamp. It needs a little bit more excitement … It’s not always about time, but it’s about the competition, the energy that it brings and that’s not there anymore.
“The sports needs to figure out a way to get people engaged in track and field.”
Rather than revolution, he believes the sport needs an evolution of ideas.
He expresses his support for the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship – a new, biennial track and field event designed to bring together the best-of-the best in a high-stakes, winner-takes-all format with a record-setting prize pool.
The eight-time Olympic champion sees team events as a way to build fanbases of those within and new to the sport and he’s ready and eager to be a part of that change.
“I’m always willing to be a part of track and field because it’s pretty much my life and who I am, so I’ll play any role possible to help to uplift it, to push it and help to keep it afloat and get better.”
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