Sprint Sensation Gout Gout: Growing Heights, Contracting Times Ahead of World Championships Debut
From Speed to Stature: Australian Sprinter Surprising Coach with Growth Spurt
Australian sprint prodigy Gout Gout, known as the ‘next Usain Bolt‘, is not just sprinting to fame. He’s growing into it too. The 17-year-old athlete, set to make his 2025 World Athletics Championships debut later this month, is leaving his coach in awe – this time, not with his speed but with his height.
“You’ve grown”: Coach Sheppard on Gout’s unexpected transformation
“When we got out of the car and were walking in the airport, I turned around and I felt like I had to look up more. I looked at him and went, ‘you’ve grown’. He looked at me like, ‘yeah, right’,” Di Sheppard recalled.
– Di Sheppard, Gout Gout’s coach
Sheppard, who has seen Gout through his teenage growth spurts, was taken aback. “I’ve never been wrong yet – even when mothers tell me they haven’t, I tell them to go home and measure their kid,” she added.
Gout Growing Tall, Feet on Ground
Gout, once compared to the seven-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt, is now 1.83m tall – nearly 3cm taller than last year. While Bolt stands at 1.95m, Gout’s growth trajectory suggests he could yet reach new heights.
Training Tailored to Growth
Gout’s coach plans to adjust his training to accommodate his growth spurt. “We’ll move into that when we can add that with some power, so it’s not about really trying to force it, because, I mean, he’s 17 and he’s still growing,” Sheppard said.
“It’s a step-by-step-by-step process, so when you hit one mark, [you say] ‘OK, we’ve got those, we can get out of the blocks in our first two steps’. We know his top end speed’s there, but you don’t drop that to work on this, you gradually improve this [his start] to match that [his speed],” she added.
Gout’s Personal Bests: A testament to his speed
- 100m: 10.17 seconds
- 200m: 20.02 seconds
Did you know?
Usain Bolt, the legendary Jamaican sprinter, grew 2 cm in six months when he was 15 years old!
FAQs
- Q: Will Gout Gout’s growth spurt affect his performance?
- A: Coach Sheppard believes it’s an opportunity to adapt and improve Gout’s training. It’s too early to tell how it will affect his performance, but Gout’s dedication and coach’s expertise promise exciting developments.
Stay Tuned for the 2025 World Athletics Championships
Gout Gout’s growth spurt is just one of the many topics buzzing around the athletics world as the 2025 World Athletics Championships approach. Be sure to follow 247Sports News for more updates, exclusive interviews, and expert analysis.
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