Gout Gout created history yet again with his sensational 200m run at the Australian Athletics championships – but not everyone is a fan.
The teenager continues to earn comparisons to Usain Bolt from some sections of the world’s media after he ran 19.67 seconds to shatter the Under-20 world record.
Bolt said last September that Gout reminds him of himself when he was younger, and there is a growing sense that the Queenslander could be the man to finally rival his world records.
The BBC describe the dream of “being as fast as Bolt” as a “reality” for Gout Gout, who is still only 18 years old.
While Barstool Sports writes that it is “about time somebody gave Usain Bolt a run for his money”, suggesting “Gout Gout may finally be the one to do it”.
The Sun’s athletics reporter Rob Maul, shares the same view, arguing that Gout can only improve as he grows and matures.
“As Gout grows taller and continues to improve and learn, assuming he stays injury-free, then he may well emerge as the first credible opposition to Bolt’s long-standing world records,” writes Maul.
He continues: “Provided he stays free of injury and his next steps are carefully managed, Gout has the world at his feet.”
Yet not everyone within the athletics world has been so glowing.
Doubt has been cast over Gout Gout’s credentials and the time he ran at the Sydney Olympic Park, with several American sprinters sceptical.
The fact multiple runners set PBs in the race has raised eyebrows, with some suggesting the conditions favoured a fast run.
American sprinter Erin Brown highlighted both factors in his verdict of the race.
“I’m not gonna lie, you all had me for a second,” Brown said on TikTok. “I thought we really witnessed something special. I pick up my phone and a million people text me saying, ‘Gout Gout just ran 19.6’.
”That made me inclined to go check the results. Not gonna lie, and if you say this s*** is hating, your a** is coping, because you and you wanna be different. This s*** is clearly fake. Obviously, overtly, this is as fake as it comes.”
He continued: “So Gout Gout, who ran 20.4 in his last race, shows up and runs 19.6,” Brown continued. “Aidan Murphy in second. A guy whose PR is 20.4, shows up and runs 19.8. Calab Law, a guy who’s run 20.7 this year, shows up and runs 20.2.
”So, if you just see the pattern of the top three, it seems like everybody is running pretty much half a second faster than they’ve ever run.
”And if you skip all the way to the bottom with just Archer [McHugh], 20.3, and this is a guy who broke 21 seconds for the first time like two weeks ago, 20.8, then he shows up and runs a half second faster.
”So, everybody in a race runs a half second faster than they’ve ever ran? But the race is real and the time is real.”
”Australia keeps producing some of the fakest marks that we ever see, and y’all gas that s*** up every time, and then these people go get they a** stepped on.”
Another US sprinter, Justin Gatlin, who won 100m Olympic gold in 2004, shared his compatriot’s mistrust of Aussie conditions.
He said, “You’ve got to do it outside of Australia. Show us you can do it outside Australia. That’s the thing.
“You can run fast in comfort, everyone can run fast in comfort. But can you run fast in discomfort? That’s where it’s at. That’s going to be a challenge for him because he’s so used to running in Australia.
“So when he does, I’ll be like ‘Gout Gout’s in the building y’all, better watch out’.”
A reporter from Boston, Jonathan Goult, shared those suspicions, tweeting: “Have to wonder a bit about the times in the Australian 200m final.
“The top seven all ran personal bests – and the top 5 all PR’d by .20 or more.”
Gout Gout may have been boosted by a tailwind, but at a speed of +1.7 metres per second, it measured below the legal limit of +2.0.
Swedish athletics expert A. Lennart Julin argues, “it doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but rather the wind that created good conditions”.
He added: “There is an attitude among many people in the US that they always have the greatest talents and if someone beats them, there must be something wrong with it.
“In this particular race, the time is correct, the distance is correct, the wind measurement is certainly correct too. It is difficult to manipulate because it is automatic.”
One US sprint star has been left impressed by Gout Gout however – Christian Coleman, the fastest man ever over 60m.
He is “excited” to see what the youngster achieves but called for the Bolt comparisons to end.
Coleman said:
“I will say I hate the fact that a lot of times they compare him to Bolt and say he will be the next one or whatever,” Coleman said.
“I think that he will just be Gout Gout. He’ll just be himself.
“I’m excited to see what he does.”
