Sprinting legend Usain Bolt has told CNN Sports he hopes teenage phenom Gout Gout "finds the right people" around him as the 18-year-old continues his meteoric rise in track and field. The Australian has set the sport alight with performances drawing parallels to Bolt himself, who has said the wonder kid "looks like young me."
Gout generated global headlines earlier this month by claiming the 200m title at the senior Australian championships in Sydney in an astonishing 19.67 seconds. Not only did he set a new under-20 world record, he surpassed the 19.93 seconds set by Bolt in 2004 — when Bolt was 17 and never improved on that time as a teenager.
Success brings greater scrutiny and distraction, something Bolt knows well, having been in Gout's shoes. "At that young age, because I was there, you start getting put left and right and then you forget track and field," he says. "Hopefully, he has the right set of people to guide him and keep him focused on track and field, because the rest of the stuff will always be there. But if you mess up on track and field, then it all goes away."
Diamond League showdown
With every Gout improvement sparking a media frenzy in Australia, the teenager now has his sights set on the international stage. It was recently confirmed the sprint sensation will make his senior debut on the Diamond League circuit in Oslo on June 10 — a 200m showdown against reigning Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo, who has already praised Gout's potential to be one of the greatest athletes in history.
Bolt is wary of setting expectations too high. "It's so big… It's totally different," he recalls. "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 hope it doesn't get him down but motivate him to work even harder."
Every day is not gonna be a great day
Gout won't compete at this year's Commonwealth Games as he focuses on the World Athletics U20 Championships in Oregon in August — the same championships where Bolt, at just 15, won the 200m in 2002 to become the youngest-ever male world junior champion.
Fast forward 24 years, Gout will be one of the favorites in the same race. "He's a massive young talent," Bolt says. "Everybody's always going to be looking for a fast time, so hopefully he has the right people to help him understand that not every day is gonna be a great day."
Athletics needs a revamp
Bolt, who retired from elite sprinting in 2017, admits he's worried about the state of his beloved sport, missing the buzz of competition he felt watching his compatriots at the recent World Indoor Athletics Championships. "People are always saying track and field is going down… I don't watch it because you left," he says. "Athletics needs a bit of a revamp. It's about the competition and energy, and that's not there anymore."
He believes the sport needs an evolution of ideas, backing the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship, a new biennial event in a high-stakes, winner-takes-all format. "I'm always willing to be a part of track and field because it's pretty much my life and who I am, so I'll play any role possible to help uplift it and keep it afloat."