Featured Image Credit: Noah Lyles Youtube/World Athletics Youtube
Topics: Athletics, Australia, Usain Bolt, Noah Lyles, Gout Gout, Olympics
Luke Davies
Topics: Athletics, Australia, Usain Bolt, Noah Lyles, Gout Gout, Olympics
Noah Lyles has issued a generous offer to Australian sprint prodigy Gout Gout after the 16-year-old was compared to Usain Bolt.
Lyles, 27, is the current 100m sprint Olympic champion, having registered an impressive time of 9.79s during the final at the Stade de France in Paris in August 2024.
The American also secured a bronze medal in the 200m final at the games but later revealed how he had tested positive for COVID-19 two days before the event.
But now, he is seemingly willing to help out the next generation.
The name ‘Gout Gout’ may not mean much to fans at the moment, but the Queensland-born prodigy has been tipped for great things in the sport.
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The 16-year-old has already drawn comparisons with the fastest man of all time, Bolt, having broken the Jamaican’s 200m record for 16-year-olds when he took silver at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships in August 2024, registering a time of 20.60 seconds.
Gout’s lengthy and seemingly effortless stride pattern is uncannily similar to Bolt’s.
And based on footage from the 200m heats at the Under-20s World Champs [via World Athletics], it is easy to see why so many track and field fans are getting excited by Gout.
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He has also penned a professional contract with Adidas in October, which happens to be the same sponsor Lyles works with.
According to The Guardian, the American sprinter has invited the young Australian to train with him under the watchful eye of coach Lance Brauman alongside several other athletes in Florida for some time in January 2025.
Gout’s coach, Di Sheppard, explained how the opportunity would give the youngster a chance to learn from the best, also adding how she hopes to “pick up some hints on how to handle things when the media doesn’t go your way”.
“We know the job is not done yet – we haven’t even reached base camp of Everest,” she admitted, also conceding how working with such esteemed company will be “surreal”.
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Gout will be hoping he improves on his already impressive haul of records he has achieved in his fledgling career.
The athlete is the current holder of the Australian under-16 100m and 200m records, having run a 10.57 race in 2022 while still just 14 years old. He currently boasts an impressive 100m personal best of 10.29s, which he ran at the U-18 Boys 100m at the Queensland Athletics Championships in Brisbane, in March 2024.