Usain Bolt finally gives his verdict on 16-year-old phenom Gout Gout after breaking his record

Usain Bolt has become the latest athlete to hail teenage sprinting sensation Gout Gout. The 16-year-old continued his blistering form on the track at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championship over the weekend. Bolt gave his thoughts on Gout after being asked by a fanPA The sprinting prodigy set a 200m national record on SaturdayGetty As well as setting personal bests in both the 100m and 200m, Gout set a new national record in the latter. His time of 20.04 seconds surpassed the longstanding record of Peter Norman, set at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. The teenager also clocked a faster time than Bolt’s best at that age back in 2003. Bolt has now given his own verdict on the Aussie phenom after being asked for his thoughts by a fan. Responding on Instagram, the eight-time Olympic gold medallist said: “He looks like young me.” It comes after he previously passed on some advice for Gout whilst reflecting on his own early days in the sport. Bolt told the High Performance Podcast last month: “When I started out, I didn’t understand the concept of ‘being great’ because I was young “I was 15 when I won the world juniors, I was really young and I was really talented so I didn’t have to work as hard as it was just talent, as I was winning and winning.” “I remember when I got to the professional level, and I felt like it was just going to be easy.” he continued. “And I got to the stage where I would go to meets and I would lose. And I was like, ‘This is strange, this is new’. So it took me a while to understand.” Gout ‘looks like a young me’ says BoltGetty The Jamaican still holds the world records for both the 100m and 200m, which he set at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. Meanwhile, Gout had earlier set a wind assisted personal best in the 100m in Brisbane. Speaking after his 200m national record, the youngster told reporters: “Remember it. “I’ve been chasing that record, but I didn’t think it would come this year. I thought it would come maybe next year, the year after that. “Right now I can’t process it, but I guess tonight when I go to bed, I’ll think about it. These are adults. And me, I’m just a kid, and I’m running them (down). It’s pretty crazy.” Bolt’s praise is the latest development in Gout’s meteoric rise this year, still three weeks away from turning 17. He previously won silver at the World Under-20 Championships in Peru, once again in a faster time than Bolt had at the same age. His medal was followed by a sponsorship deal with Adidas and an invite to train with Olympic champion Noah Lyles.

Dec 9, 2024 - 10:29
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Usain Bolt finally gives his verdict on 16-year-old phenom Gout Gout after breaking his record

Usain Bolt has become the latest athlete to hail teenage sprinting sensation Gout Gout.

The 16-year-old continued his blistering form on the track at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championship over the weekend.

Bolt gave his thoughts on Gout after being asked by a fan
PA
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 06: Gout Gout celebrates after winning his Boys' U18 100m final during the 2024 Chemist Warehouse Australian All Schools Athletics Championship at Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre on December 06, 2024 in Brisbane, Australia. At 16 years of age, Australian sprinter Gout Gout has been breaking records in the 100m and 200m. At the Australian All Schools Athletics Championship Gout ran a 10.04 second heat with a tail wind and won the final in a legal 10.17 seconds. In the 200m final he ran an Australian National record of 20.04 seconds, breaking a 56 year old national record set by Peter Norman at the 1968 Mexico Summer Olympics. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
The sprinting prodigy set a 200m national record on Saturday
Getty

As well as setting personal bests in both the 100m and 200m, Gout set a new national record in the latter.

His time of 20.04 seconds surpassed the longstanding record of Peter Norman, set at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

The teenager also clocked a faster time than Bolt’s best at that age back in 2003.

Bolt has now given his own verdict on the Aussie phenom after being asked for his thoughts by a fan.

Responding on Instagram, the eight-time Olympic gold medallist said: “He looks like young me.”

It comes after he previously passed on some advice for Gout whilst reflecting on his own early days in the sport.

Bolt told the High Performance Podcast last month: “When I started out, I didn’t understand the concept of ‘being great’ because I was young

“I was 15 when I won the world juniors, I was really young and I was really talented so I didn’t have to work as hard as it was just talent, as I was winning and winning.”

“I remember when I got to the professional level, and I felt like it was just going to be easy.” he continued.

“And I got to the stage where I would go to meets and I would lose. And I was like, ‘This is strange, this is new’. So it took me a while to understand.”

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 06: Gout Gout sprints in his Boys' U18 100m heat during the 2024 Chemist Warehouse Australian All Schools Athletics Championship at Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre on December 06, 2024 in Brisbane, Australia. At 16 years of age, Australian sprinter Gout Gout has been breaking records in the 100m and 200m. At the Australian All Schools Athletics Championship Gout ran a 10.04 second heat with a tail wind and won the final in a legal 10.17 seconds. In the 200m final he ran an Australian National record of 20.04 seconds, breaking a 56 year old national record set by Peter Norman at the 1968 Mexico Summer Olympics. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Gout ‘looks like a young me’ says Bolt
Getty

The Jamaican still holds the world records for both the 100m and 200m, which he set at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

Meanwhile, Gout had earlier set a wind assisted personal best in the 100m in Brisbane.

Speaking after his 200m national record, the youngster told reporters: “Remember it.

“I’ve been chasing that record, but I didn’t think it would come this year. I thought it would come maybe next year, the year after that.

“Right now I can’t process it, but I guess tonight when I go to bed, I’ll think about it. These are adults. And me, I’m just a kid, and I’m running them (down). It’s pretty crazy.”

Bolt’s praise is the latest development in Gout’s meteoric rise this year, still three weeks away from turning 17.

He previously won silver at the World Under-20 Championships in Peru, once again in a faster time than Bolt had at the same age.

His medal was followed by a sponsorship deal with Adidas and an invite to train with Olympic champion Noah Lyles.