- Michael Johnson says it’s fun to think about Aussie’s potential
- Sprint legend stressed that Gout will need solid team around him
- Gout Gout broke the long-standing record on the weekend
Four-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Johnson has weighed in on the performances and hype surrounding Australian teenage sprint sensation, Gout Gout.
The 16-year-old smashed Peter Norman’s 56-year Australian All Schools Athletics Championships record in the 200m final last weekend, 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.
Gout has since become the name on everyone’s lips, with former track star turned TV identity Matt Shirvington suggesting the prodigy has more potential than Olympic legend Usain Bolt.
Usain Bolt himself responded to the hype surrounding Gout Gout, replying to a post on Jumper’s World with the simple comment: ‘He looks like young me.’
Now Olympic sprint champion Michael Johnson has given his verdict – and stressed the importance of Gout to remain grounded.
Gout Gout, 16, broke Norman’s long-standing 200 metre record at the Australian All School Athletics Championships in Brisbane
Athletics legend Michael Johnson has heaped praise upon the Aussie teen
Johnson posted on X: ‘Peter Norman was one of my heroes. Hard to believe no Australian had runner (sic) faster than 20.06 over the last 56 years!
‘Great performances! Fun to think about his potential. But even with such great potential, realizing it is a whole different thing.
‘The greater the potential, the higher the risk. He’ll need a solid team around him to help him navigate the journey.’
The sage advice comes after Athletics Australia president Jane Flemming declared the sporting organisation will look to ‘temper’ the hype surrounding teenage star.
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.
‘It’s a long road. Rightly so he’ll probably make next year’s world championships and then Olympic Games and another Olympics and maybe another Olympics after that.’
Johnson, one of the greatest sprinters ever, says Gout has great potential, but realizing it is a whole different thing
The Queenslander has set the country talking in recent days with blistering performances
Flemming added 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.’
Athletics Australia general manager of high performance Andrew Faichney said there was no ceiling for what Gout Gout could achieve.
‘He’s a great talent and is being nurtured well by his coach Di Sheppard as well as our high performance system,’ Faichney said in a statement.
‘His silver medal at the World Under 20 Championships already showed us that he has what it takes to compete internationally.
‘The world is his oyster and we look forward to seeing what he can do over the next few years as he makes his mark on his first senior teams.’