Usain Bolt snubbed Gout Gout and Noah Lyles when naming the man he thinks can beat his 100m world record

Usain Bolt snubbed Gout Gout and Noah Lyles when naming the one athlete he believes could break his 100m world record.

Bolt's stunning record of 9.58 has stood since 2009 and hasn't come close to being beaten by any sprinter past or present.

Lyles, the 2024 men's Olympic champion, ran a personal best time of 9.79 in the final in Paris, in a clear indication of just how much more it will take for Bolt's record to ever be broken.

Gout, meanwhile, is the latest emerging talent in athletics and has produced a number of eye-catching performances over the last 12 months.

The Australian, 17, competed at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event in Czechia on Tuesday - his debut in Europe.

He won the 200m final, running an Australian national record time of 20.02 seconds in the process.

Dream European debut ✨

Watch 🇦🇺’s Gout Gout power to 20.02 in the men’s 200m at @ZlataTretra 😎

First senior race abroad ✅
First race ever in Europe ✅
First senior win abroad ✅
Breaks area record ✅ #ContinentalTourGold pic.twitter.com/6FSW00Y933

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) June 24, 2025

For comparison, Bolt ran a time of 19.93 at a meet in Bermuda before he turned 18.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given Gout's age in comparison to established athletics stars, Bolt decided not to name him as a potential world record breaker.

In an interview on The Fix Podcast in February, the Jamaican also snubbed Lyles and instead named his compatriot Oblique Seville as the man that could finally smash the 9.58 barrier.

Seville competed in the men's 100m event in Paris and won his semi-final, running a time of 9.81 to finish ahead of Lyles.

During the final, however, he suffered a flare-up of a previous groin injury.

That restricted him to running 9.91, meaning he finished in eighth place out of eight runners.

Bolt, however, believes that Seville will bounce back from that disappointment.

He said: "I feel like Oblique can do it [break my record].

"If he can stay fit during the season and get it right, I feel he can do it. Because I am sure there is something there, the ability to do it.

"Some of the time Oblique can be fragile. It's a matter of the work situation or whatever, but if he's doing enough work, he can do it.

"It's a matter of time because he's not missed the finals yet, so it's just to get over the hump."