WITH Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt identifying Gout Gout as a potential heir to his 100m and 200m world records, the global attention on the teenage Australian has intensified. Despite the increasing attention, coach Di Sheppard says she will remain patient with the 18-year-old and has no intention of changing his programme.

Gout has significantly improved since breaking onto the athletic scene two years after running an impressive 19.67 seconds to win the 200m at the Australian National Championships last month. It was his first sub-20 clocking of his young career, surpassing Bolt’s junior record of 19.93, set in 2004.

The World Under-20 silver medallist, who was recently seen training with American sprint star Noah Lyles, has also made strides in the 100m after clocking 10.00 seconds in February, bettering the 10.17 he did back in 2024.

Due to his height at 6 feet and his running style, Gout has been compared to eight-time Olympic champion Bolt, who has also acknowledged the similarities, saying “he looks like a young me”.

Last month, Bolt, whose 9.58 seconds in the 100m and 19.19 seconds in the 200m have stood since 2009, praised Gout’s achievements but warned that he needed to be careful, having gone through a similar phase.

“The pressure that comes with it is not going to be easy because every time you step on that track, everybody’s going to always looking for a fast time, always for you to do great,” Bolt told CNN Sports.

“So, hopefully, he has the right people to help him to understand that it’s not every day is going to be a great day, not every time you run you’re going to win. It’s all about just learning right now at a young age and figuring out how can I get better and how can I move forward.”

Many are expecting Gout to challenge Bolt’s record in the coming seasons but Sheppard, who has guided Gout since age 12, says he won’t be rushed because of external expectations.

“If I tried to make him super quick now, I’d break him,” Sheppard said on CBS’ 60 Minutes. “It’s the fact he’s a kid, and he’s got so much more physical development. Like, he only really hit puberty in the last 12 to 18 months, basically.”

“I had to deal with a lot of growth issues with Gout. When I met Gout, he walked right up on his toes. It took me six months to get the heel down and it wasn’t all the way down.”

Sheppard believes Gout will improve naturally as he aims to be a future Olympic champion.

“You just work his programme up, you just increase the intensity as his body matures. He will just naturally start to go quicker as the body and brain develops. Our biggest and weakest thing is his starts but that’s a physical thing. He doesn’t have full control of his limbs, it’s not fully synced yet.”

Gout, in agreement with Sheppard, says he’s in no rush to chase world records.

“It’s crazy to think about how you want to run as fast as possible but you don’t want to overload too much as a teenager because that messes up the rest of your career. You have all the time in the world.”

Gout is expected to make his Diamond League debut is Oslo next month when he lines up in the 200m, which is also expected to feature Botswana’s Olympic and World Champion Letsile Tebogo.