Gout Gout had ice cold response after Noah Lyles questioned him about 'next Usain Bolt' status

Australian sprint star Gout Gout gave an ice cold response for Noah Lyles when he was questioned about the ‘next Usain Bolt’ status.

Gout broke onto the scene in 2020 and has been breaking records across a number of age brackets.

Last December he set the Oceanian senior record for the fastest 200m race, clocking 20.04 seconds, beating Peter Norman’s record of 20.06 seconds, which had stood since 1968.

The 17-year-old then beat his own record with a run of 20.02 seconds in the Czech Republic last month and he has Usain’s Bolt’s 200m record in his sights.

Legendary runner Bolt clocked in at 19.93 seconds in the 200m in 2004, and Gout will hope to trump that at the Monaco Diamond League on Friday (11 July).

And speaking on Beyond The Records Podcast with Noah Lyles earlier in the year, Gout admitted it’s ‘surreal’ that he’s already being considered the next icon in the athletics world.

When asked on being a role model to young kids, current and future professionals, Gout said: “[It's] Crazy to think about. Because I was once that kid trying to be the next Noah Lyles, trying to be Usain Bolt, trying to be the next icon and me being the next icon is definitely surreal. It’s crazy for sure.”

Setting the bar high for Australia

And when pressed on being a trailblazer in the same vein as Lyles and Bolt, Gout went on to add.

“Yeah I definitely think about that. For me, I’ve got to set the bar extremely high for the rest of Australia because if I can set that high, it can show the rest of Australia that someone like me can actually do it,” he added.

Gout will hope to run a legal sub-19.93 200m in Monaco tonight having previously run a sub-10 second 100m, but the two 9.99s runs were both deemed illegal due to help from high tailwinds.

Illegal sub-10s run recorded this year

Gout run a 9.99 second 100m in Perth earlier in this year with a 3.5m/s tailwind, and followed that up with another 9.99 in the final, albeit with the help of a 2.6m/s tailwind.

A wind reading of 2.0m/s or under is needed for a running time to be declared legal.

“Sometimes it's frustrating but you can't control what you can't control,” Gout said after the final race in Perth earlier this year.

“The wind is obviously the thing you can't control. You've just got to learn to run with it or against it.”