Usain Bolt Urges Rising Australian Star Gout Gout to Stay Focused on Track and Field
Eight-time Olympic champion warns 18-year-old sprinter to avoid distractions as Diamond League debut approaches
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- Usain Bolt has urged rising Australian sprinter Gout Gout to find a good support network and stay focused on track and field as the 18-year-old's career accelerates.
- Gout retained the 200m title at the Australian Athletics Championships on 12 April in 19.67 seconds, beating Erriyon Knighton's world under-20 record and bettering Bolt's time from 2004.
- Bolt, who has previously said Gout "looks like young me", warned that distractions could derail his career.
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Warum es wichtig ist
Gout Gout has emerged as one of the world's most promising young sprinters, with his 19.67-second 200m time making him the fastest under-20 athlete in history. He has drawn comparisons to Usain Bolt, who set the benchmark for teenage sprinting excellence in the early 2000s.
Sprint legend Usain Bolt has urged rising Australian star Gout Gout not to forget track and field and find a good support network to keep him focused on his career as the spotlight and distractions intensify.
Gout, 18, retained the 200m title at the Australian Athletics Championships on 12 April in a time of 19.67 seconds, beating USA sprinter Erriyon Knighton's world under-20 record (19.69) and bettering Bolt's time of 19.93 from 2004 – the Jamaican's fastest time as a teenager.
Gout, who also claimed the under-20 100m national title, went under the 20-second mark at last season's championships with a wind-assisted 19.84 and previously set the quickest time by a 16-year-old over 200m when he ran 20.04 in 2024.
Offering advice to Gout, who he has previously said "looks like young me", Jamaican eight-time Olympic champion Bolt told CNN: "At that young age, because I was there, you start getting put left and right and then you forget track and field.
"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."
Gout is set to make his Diamond League debut in the 200m in Oslo on 10 June but has indicated he will skip the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow to focus on the World Under-20 Championships in Oregon in August.
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Gout Gout will compete at the Diamond League in Oslo on 10 June 2026
Sehr wahrscheinlich · Innerhalb von Wochen
Gout Gout will skip Commonwealth Games to focus on World Under-20 Championships
Sehr wahrscheinlich · Innerhalb von Monaten
Offene Fragen
- How will Gout Gout perform against elite senior competition in the Diamond League?
- Will skipping the Commonwealth Games prove beneficial for his development?
- What specific support network has Gout Gout established?
