Exclusive: Gout Gout Joins Noah Lyles in Florida Training Camp, Manager Confirms

Why is it that within human nature, we all gravitate toward the unworldly? And when we find it, gawk as if in complete envy?

You know the ones, the ultra-tall, the excessively strong, the astonishingly accurate and of course, best of all, the freakishly fast. 

When a phenom comes along, the world just admires them with such force of envy, none of us can look away.

The whole conviction of life nowadays rests upon the belief that freakish athletic talent, far from being a rare and curious phenomenon, peculiar just to us and a few other inquisitive observers, is the central and inevitable fact of human existence.

We aren’t all born equal after all.

Enter the strangely named Gout Gout as a grand example.

Shielding Gout from the Spotlight

An Australian-born running phenom who at 16, has made EVERY person in sport sit up and take notice - all without a moment of mainstream media to propel him.

“And that’s what amazes me the most,” said his incredibly protective and cautious manager James Templeton. 

“He's gone viral and seems to have a cult following now and it’s come about by way of You Tube, Twitter and Tic Toc videos only.”

“I stop, on a daily basis, media outlets trying to get a piece of him. I turn down everyone.”

“Because he is a boy and he needs to stay grounded and be a teenager.”

Indeed, just chatting to Templeton, who doesn’t do interviews either by the way, is as close as anyone can get to Gout Gout at the moment.

TV Luminaries such as 60 Minutes, A Current Affair, Sunrise, etc have all requested, but Templeton continually says no.

“Every newspaper and radio show you can think of in Australia wants him on but ask yourself this question. What is the benefit? He is already known world-wide, and it would just put pressure on him too soon. I don’t want him answering questions on social justice, or why he is so good, or who does he idolise etc, etc.”

“Those things are irrelevant to the path, the journey he is on.”

This is music to the ears of former Olympic legend, multiple gold-medallist and now outspoken media icon, Michael Johnson.

“So far the boy has performed some great performances!” Said Johnson this week. 

“And it’s fun to think about his potential. But, even with such great potential, realising it is a whole different thing.”

"The greater the potential, the higher the risk.”

"He’ll need a solid team around him to help navigate the journey ahead.”

Gout's Jaw-Dropping 20.04 at Age 16

He has that in Templeton, himself a former solid 800m runner in his youth and of course Gout’s coach Di Shepherd who found the boy as a 13-year-old dashing across the paddock while playing soccer in Queensland, Australia. 

She told him and his parents that she believed he had something and if they wanted to get some training into him, he could develop into an Olympian.

Which of course are words that would turn any young athlete on. His big smile appeared, brightened his face, her words planted a seed that is just now taken root.

So, they came along to see what running was all about and Shepherd, within nine months, had the gangly, skinny-legged tall boy running 200m in a staggering 21.10sec - as a 14-year-old. A phenomenal time for someone so young with so little experience.

“A couple of months before that Di had called me and said she had a young guy who she thought I needed to get involved with sooner rather than later.  We met for the first time just weeks before he lit it up in Adelaide at the All Schools Championships that year with the 21.10sec. She wasn't wrong; it goes without saying I was more than a little impressed! ” said Templeton. 

“I said to him, look mate just keep it up, keep training, keep up your work at school and listen to you coach. You're coming on really well but don't be complacent.”

A few months later because Gout Gout, whose parents fled a war-torn Sudan 18 years ago to find safety and a better life in Australia, took to running like a duck to water.

He won school carnivals and did so in ways that reminded everyone looking on of Usain Bolt - both as a teen and when he became, well Usain Bolt the goat.

Roll forward to last December, as a now tall, but still gangly, skinny kid of 16 years of age, whose technique and knee lift had improved immeasurably under Shepherd’s watchful gaze, Gout ran 20.04sec for 200m, breaking the 56-year-old Aussie 200m record and Bolt’s under 18 world mark.

The video of the race went viral.

Gout Gout Trains Alongside Noah Lyles in Florida

Everyone from Bolt himself to current Olympic superstars Letsile Tobogo and Noah Lyles saw it. Lyles’ coach Lance Brauman did too. He knows Templeton and the two began chatting.

“Did Lance see something special in Gout, yes he did and because Noah Lyles is with adidas and Gout now is too, adidas and Lance thought it would be good for Gout to meet Noah and train in Florida for a couple of weeks in 2025,” said Templeton who is with Gout, his coach Shepherd, and his training partner Jon Kasiano in Florida in January.

No fanfare, no cameras, and certainly no media.

“Lance has a great squad. Gout will train with them and join in when it suits,” Templeton told SportsBoom.com. 

“Di is overseeing it all, she’s the coach and Lance is full of praise about her ability as he sees tremendous improvement in Gout and in particular his technique. He’s been watching Gout since Gout was 14.”

“But, while no media is allowed, I’ll have my phone ready just in case they do a set of 150m together or similar,” he smiled.

Why the World Can’t Look Away

Back in 1965, the hottest young band on the planet. The Beatles who were making headlines in every country, came to the US, and immediately wanted to meet the King, Elvis Presley.

So, it was arranged at Elvis’ place and only a scant few pics were ever taken. They jammed together, talked about life in the industry, sang some unrecorded songs and it lasted three hours.

The secretive way Templeton explains this meeting of the King, Lyles, with the hottest rising talent alive Gout, takes on very similar undertones.

It will be historic, because Templeton is, like Gout himself, Shepherd and many others, firmly of the belief that Gout will in the fulness of time, morph into a superstar.  

Not surprisingly there is considerable interest in the United States from colleges in Gout who has indicated he does want to go to university after he finishes high school. 

But, not in the U.S.

“Most likely he will attend university in Queensland. He’s a straight A student, who will continue training in Ipswich and Brisbane with the likelihood of further training stints to Florida.  He just wants to be a teenager with his friends around. That’s perfect because to Di and I, there is no rush.”

“We are on a journey that should last ten years or longer. Over time he will sign with global brands, it makes no sense to overcommit him now. He will sign bigger deals when the time is right.”

The Future of Sprinting and Road to Olympic Stardom

Gout’s 20.04sec in December last year has already qualified him for a start in the upcoming World Track and Field Championships this year in Tokyo.

If you think back to last year’s Olympic men’s 200m final, Tobogo won it in 19.46, form Kenny Bednarek and Lyles in 3rd. Gout’s time would have placed him 5th. And remember, he’s an under-developed 16-year-old.

“He’s evolving beautifully. We all can see it. He knows there's a lot more to come, he's confident where he's headed,” added Templeton.

“He rarely talks about it, but he recognises it when he walks down the street of his hometown in Queensland because people stop and congratulate him all the time now.”

But, while Di and I are keeping a lid on things, keeping all media away from him, Gout himself knows where he wants to be and that is with the very best in the world.”

He will be in Japan at the Worlds, then… who knows.