Why Gout Gout's rise poses a threat to sprinters like Noah Lyles and Letsile Tebogo

Australian sprinter Gout Gout has been making the headlines for quite some time now with his performances on the track. The 17-year-old's immense rise since the 2024 World U20 Championships is a definite alarm bell for top sprinters such as Noah Lyles and Letsile Tebogo.

Gout, 17, has a personal best 100m run time of 10.17 seconds, which is very close to Lyles' time at that age (10.14 seconds) and faster than that of Tebogo's (10.49 seconds). Similarly, in the 200m distance as well, Gout (20.04 seconds) has better times than those of both Tebogo (20.71 seconds) and Lyles (20.18s).

Notably, at age 17, Gout is also the fastest 200m runner of his country, overtaking the likes of former Olympic silver medalist, Peter Norman (20.06 seconds), a feat that Lyles achieved in 2022 when he was nearly 25 years old, and Tebogo achieved last year when he was 20.

Moreover, Gout has already defeated World Indoor Championships medalists such as Lachlan Kennedy, with the most recent circumstance taking place at the 2025 Australian Nationals. The Queensland native clocked his career-best 200m during the event (19.84s, wind assisted and not legal) to win the race, while Kennedy was disqualified for his false start.

Gout Gout is regarded as one of the most exciting young talents in track and field, with his long-striding style drawing comparisons to the legendary Usain Bolt. If he continues in a similar vein of form in the coming months, it won't be long before he is competing against the likes of Noah Lyles and Letsile Tebogo at the biggest events in the sport.

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Gout Gout made feelings clear about 100m Olympic champion's position in the 2025 season

Gout Gout (Image via: Getty)

In February 2025, Gout Gout shared his thoughts on defeating Noah Lyles and taking up his seat in the upcoming track and field season. In a conversation during Beyond the Records' podcast, Gout said that at the 2025 World Championships scheduled to take place later this year, he is coming to chase down Lyles and bag the gold medal.

Additionally, the Australian sprinter also mentioned that the World event will be a great experience for him, but he also wants to return from the competition with a medal. He said:

"I am trying to show you what's up, so I'm trying to come out there with a bang. Whatever I have got to do to show Noah, I'm coming for that spot, so obviously it's a learning experience but deep down you know I'm trying to get a medal for sure or even make that final and be running up Noah or trying to chase Noah down for sure."

During the podcast where Lyles was also present, the 100m Olympic champion stated that he wanted Gout to also say in his face that he was going to beat the former.