Usain Bolt has lauded Gout Gout as a “massive young talent” while offering some words of wisdom to the young Australian sprinter.
Gout has continued his rise to become a household name at the age of 18, lowering his own Australian 200m record and setting an Under-20 world record in a time of 19.67sec at the national titles in Sydney this month.
The blistering time made headlines around and further heightened the comparisons to Bolt, who set a World Junior record of 19.93 seconds in 2004 at age 17. The time would have been good enough to get on the podium at every Olympics in history.
Speaking to CNN, Bolt said he hoped Gout had the “right people” around him to help steer the teenager on the path from prodigy to global superstardom.
“He’s a young talent, he’s a massive young talent,” the eight-time Olympic gold medallist said.
“I just hope he find the right people. It’s so big to transition, to have the right people to watch you because at that young age, because I was there, you start getting pulled left and right, and then you forget track and field.
Watch Usain Bolt speak about Gout Gout in the video above
“Hopefully he has the right set of people who actually help guide him and keep him focused on track and field.
“The rest of the stuff will always be there. But if you mess up on track field, then it all goes away.”
Gout is being guided by his longtime coach Di Sheppard and is managed by James Templeton, who are both doing their best to carefully manage his transition to senior competition.
The teenager will make his senior Diamond League debut at the Bislett Games in Oslo on June 10, where he will race against Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo over 200m.
Gout won his 200m Under-23 Diamond League race in Monaco last year.
Bolt said it can take time to get used to competing against the best in the world after dominating as a junior athlete.
“That’s so big, it’s totally different,” the Jamaican said.
“I remember coming out of high school going on the circuit, I felt like I was on top of the world because I was winning and running good.
“When I got on the circuit, I didn’t win one race!
“I know it’s going to be an eye-opener, and I hope it doesn’t get him down but motivate him to work even harder.
“I think in the first year you will learn a lot and understand what you need to do to be better.”
As for the pressure and the hype that comes with being heralded as the next big thing, Bolt said: “The pressure that comes with it is not going to be easy.
“Every time you step on that track, everybody’s going to always be looking for a fast time, always looking for you to do great.
“So hopefully he has the right people to help him to understand that not every day is going to be a great day.”
Gout has opted not to compete at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, choosing to focus on the World Junior Athletics Championships in Oregon due to a mid-year scheduling crunch.
He won silver in the 200m at the World Junior Championships in Peru in a time of 20.60, and will be looking to go one better this year.
Gout ran 10.21sec in the 100m to win the Under-20 Australian title on the weekend, and celebrated by waving to the crowd towards the end of the race.
The superstar teenager, 18, has been tipped to join Patrick Johnson and Lachie Kennedy as the third Aussie to go under 10 seconds, but claimed the victory in 10.21.
After his recordbreaking 200m run, Olympic champion Justin Gatlin said he wanted to see Gout produce world class times away from home soil.
“You’ve got to do it outside of Australia. Show us you can do it outside Australia. That’s the thing,” Gatlin said.
“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.”
