Australian sprint starlet Gout Gout continues hitting new heights and is widely tipped to emulate Usain Bolt despite only just turning 18
Australian athletics starlet Gout Gout has bought a house after cashing in on his lucrative £4million ($6m) Adidas deal. The 18-year-old says he has already achieved one of his dreams by purchasing the property.
The 200m Australian champion has drawn comparisons to Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt following his meteoric rise, which has seen Gout lower the national 200m record to 20.02 seconds, ending Peter Norman’s 56-year record. His deal with the sportswear juggernaut meant that Adidas fended off the likes of Puma and Nike, which he signed when he was just 16.
But in doing so, the Queenslander has used the money efficiently, buying a new home for his family in the west of Brisbane.
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He told Nova FM: “It’s definitely a privilege being able to provide back to my family what they’ve given to me.
“As you get older, one of your dreams is buying your parents a house or buying your parents a car or things of that nature, and I’ve done one of those things.
“[I’m] definitely proud of myself for sure, and sometimes it’s a pinch yourself moment for sure, knowing that I’m literally just 17, turning 18, and I’ve already done these great things.”
The 18-year-old continues his training for the 2026 Commonwealth Games and World Junior Championships after making his bow at the World Athletics Championships debut, where he narrowly missed out on a place in the final.
He will have the future Olympic Games in his sight with LA hosting the next event in 2028, before he has the chance to compete at his home Games in Brisbane in 2032.
Former Australian Olympian Jane Flemming has previously tipped the 18-year-old to follow in the footsteps of world record holder, Bolt, she said: “There’s a 16-year-old sprinter up in Queensland called Gout Gout, who if I’ve ever seen anybody run like Usain Bolt and [be] built like him, he is it.
“He’s broken our national under-18 record and he is only 16. Have a Google of this guy and watch him run – he is built like Usain Bolt and he runs like him.
“He is [also] running not dissimilar times to what Bolt did at the same age [in Jamaica].”
Bolt has already endorsed Gout and repeated the claim from Flemming, tipping the 18-year-old for a bright future.
The 39-year-old said: “Definitely, I think the talent that he’s showing when I was young is the same thing. And this is why I’m trying to advise him to be very careful in transition because I had a tough time transitioning into the senior level.
“So finding the right people, finding the right coach that could transition into the senior level (is key). He has a great future. If he gets everything right, his future is going to be bright.”