Usain Bolt reacts to stark similarity with Gout Gout as the youngster breaks the Jamaican legend's record as a 16-year-old

Usain Bolt reacted to the striking similarity between his younger self and the Australian sprinter Gout Gout. The soon-to-be 17-year-old sprinter has broken the Jamaican's legend record as a 16-year-old.

Gout recently broke the long-standing Australian national record in the men's 200m, which was established by Olympic silver medalist Peter Norman in 1968. The Australian sprinter clocked a new Oceanian record of 20.04 record at the national All-Australian Schools Championships held in Brisbane.

When asked about it, Bolt replied,

"He looks like young me"

With his recent performances at the Australian School Championships, Gout also broke Bolt's record time of 20.58 seconds, which he recorded at the World Junior Championships held in Kingston in 2002.

After winning the Australian School Championships, the Sudanese-origin Australian sprinter spoke to 'The Guardian',

"These are adult times and me, just a kid – I’m running them. It’s going to be a great future for sure. I didn’t expect it to be that fast, but I guess I ran Australia’s fastest-ever time in the 200. I have been chasing that record, but I didn’t think it would come this year. I thought maybe next year or the year after that.”

Gout Gout is now one of the fastest runners in the world after the American sprinter Erriyon Knighton. In 2021, Knighton set a blistering under-18 world record of 19.84 seconds as a 17-year-old.

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Gout Gout on being compared to Usain Bolt after incredible run

Gout Gout after winning the 200m event at the Australian All School Athletics Championships 2024 [Image Source : Getty]

Gout Gout has often been compared to Usain Bolt for his speed and his enthusiasm as a teenage sprinter. After winning the Australian All-School Athletics Championships, the Australian sprinter talked about it in detail.

In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Gout mentioned,

"I just knew he won back in the day, but I didn't know what time or like how he did it, but one of the news articles said I did it. And I was like 'Wow, that's pretty cool'."

When asked about the similarity with Usain Bolt, he replied,

"I do see it. My stride length is pretty long, my knee height is pretty high and just the amount of tallness I get when I'm running. I'm just me trying to be me. Obviously, I do run like him. I do sometimes look like him, but obviously I'm making a name for myself, and I think I've done that pretty well. I just want to continue doing that and continue to be not only Usain Bolt but continue to be Gout Gout."

Gout Gout finished second to Bayanda Walaza at the World Athletics U20 Championships in the 200m finals, held at Lima in Peru. He is aiming to make a breakthrough at the senior level by the 2025 season.