'It's a long road' - Why Athletics Australia want to 'temper' the rise of teenage sprint sensation Gout Gout

'It's a long road' - Why Athletics Australia want to 'temper' the rise of teenage sprint sensation Gout Gout

Evans Ousuru 06:00 - 11.12.2024

Gout Gout needs the right environment to thrive in and there's need for the authorities to protect the teen sensation from external pressure.

Athletics Australia president Jane Flemming has reiterated that the sporting organisation will look to temper the hype surrounding teenage sprint sensation Gout Gout.

The 16-year-old smashed Peter Norman's 56-year Australian All Schools Athletics Championships record in the 200m on December 8, recording a blistering time of 20.04. He also clocked a wind-assisted time of 10.04 seconds in his 100m heat, which was the fifth fastest time by an Australian in history in all conditions.

Flemming, who won gold medals in heptathlon and long jump at the Commonwealth Games, stressed expectations shouldn't reach manic levels. "You can imagine at the moment he's going to have every sporting code, every agent, every commercial entity, they'll all be chasing him and he hasn't even finished year 11," she told 2GB's Wide World of Sports.

"Part of our responsibility as an organisation is to make sure the young man gets to his 30's in good physical and mental shape so we need to try and temper it.....make sure he gets back to school, hangs out with his mates, has a good time with it all, while still progressing him on the way through," Flemmimg pointed out.

Flemming hinted at the competition Gout Gout will take part in in 2025 but said in the long run, the target is to see the teenager dominate the Olympics. "It's a long road. Rightly so he'll probably make next year's world championships and then the Olympic Games and another Olympics and maybe another Olympics after that."

Flemming said Athletics Australia want to see Gout have a long and fruitful career and the young gun is fortunate to have a fantastic coach in Di Sheppard.