Gout Gout’s manager, James Templeton, urges against comparisons to Usain Bolt, emphasising the need for Gout to develop at his own pace and live a normal childhood despite his rising popularity.
Gout Gout’s manager James Templeton does not like when the youngster is compared to Usain Bolt as he explained that the Australian is just starting and it is unfair to start the comparisons as early as now.
James Templeton, in an interview with ABC News, explained that he does not like it when the youngster does media interviews since he is just young and the management wants him to live like a normal child.
However, Gout Gout still gets noticed due to the presence of social media and his running videos have been circulating all over the world and the world has now gotten to know him and his super talent.
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"I've avoided using the 'UB' comparison. I think that's unfair to a young athlete. For 18 months I've basically said a blanket 'no' to every media outlet in Australia that has asked. We just want to allow him to be a normal kid at school. We don't want him to have any distractions,” James Templeton said.
"It's all going to be ahead of him. We want his life to be as normal as possible for as long as possible. But in the modern world with viral videos, despite saying no to media he has gone viral and everybody is starting to get to know him."
He observed that Gout Gout has a bright future ahead of him and as a management, they are ready to walk with him and nurture him to explore everything and go beyond the limits.
Watching him run is something James Templeton finds pride in and he explained that his running style is one to adore.
"Having seen a lot of great young athletes and sprinters over the years, I'm firmly convinced he has that something a little bit special to kick through to the very highest levels," he said.
"It's great watching him run. He's got that flow and rhythm which is just mesmerising. Watching him come off the bend and in that last 50-60 metres, it's very special.”
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In 2022, Gout Gout was named the holder of the Australian under-16 100m and 200m records at the age of 14. In 2023, Gout Gout broke the Australian under-18 men’s 200m record aged 15 and ran 20.87 seconds to win the under-18 men’s 200m final at the Australian Junior Athletics Championships in Brisbane.
This season, Gout Gout ran a personal best time of 10.29 seconds to win the U-18 Boys 100m at the Queensland Athletics Championships in Brisbane in March. The Australian youngster won the Australian U20 100m title in a time of 10.48 seconds in Adelaide in April.
He represented Australia at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, Peru, where he won the silver medal in the 200m. He also made a huge career milestone, signing with Adidas. At the Queensland All-Schools Championships in the first weekend of November, he clocked a time of 20.29 seconds in the heats of the 200m.
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In addition to achieving the Oceania Under-20 record, Australian Under-20 and Under-18 records, he becomes the fourth fastest Australian over this distance ever and the fastest since 1993. His time also places him fourth in the world's all-time youth performance rankings, behind Erriyon Knighton, Usain Bolt and Puripol Boonson.