Australia’s teenage athletics sensation Gout Gout will balance his studies with his sprinting as he prepares for his World Championships debut in Tokyo in four months time.
Australian Athletics high performance manager Andrew Faichney said the exciting 17-year-old’s preparation will bear a difference to some of his older peers given his age.
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But the certainty provided by his selection last week will allow the Oceanic 200m record holder and his coach Di Shepperd an extended runway to the biggest event of his fledgling career.
“He will prepare himself in a few different ways,” Faichney told foxsports.com.au.
“He is still at school, so he will be attending school a lot of the time between now and the World Championships, which is a bit different to most people.
“I understand he will has a couple of commitments overseas. He will go to Europe for a couple of meets over the school holidays to have a couple of races over there.”
A silver medallist in the World U20 Championships last year, Gout Gout recently met with Australia’s fastest ever man Patrick Johnson after returning to school in Brisbane.
Johnson said last December that the teenager, who will feature on Fox Sports’ The Back Page on Tuesday night, had the capacity to break his national record of 9.93 seconds for the 100m.
“I hope so, because he’s really proved that he’s got the talent and ability [to break my record],” Johnson told ESPN.
“But we should also make sure that we don’t put too much pressure on him too early. He’s still young and that is going to be the big thing now — how we nurture and support him.
“He is still a kid, so we need to let him enjoy being a kid, because the world will come very quickly at him and ask him to perform under the spotlight and the pressure. When he joins the circuit and the intense racing overseas, it’s really important that they manage that really well — and no doubt they will.”
Australia’s Gout Gout reacts after competing in Backmarkers Invitation 120m event during the 2025 Stawell Gift at Central Park in Stawell on April 21, 2025
Gout is scheduled to race at meets in Monaco and Ostrava during the Queensland school holidays with a view to broadening his experience before the World Championships.
“Between now and then, other than that as far I am aware, he will be racing mainly at home, going to school, doing his training with his coach, which has proved so successful,” Faichney said.
The emergence of Gout has coincided with a resurgence in interest in Australian athletics due to strong international performances dating back to the Tokyo Olympics.
The dynamism of the national 200m champion, who has run faster than Usain Bolt at the same age, has wowed Australian fans and put the teenager firmly in the spotlight.
At meetings around the country, including the recent Stawell Gift where he won a heat as a backmarker in the famous race, he was obliging when swamped by fans.
Handicap too much for Gout Gout | 01:10
In a recent profile in The Guardian, Shepperd praised the mental strength of Gout but said the focus on the Ipswich Grammar student will require him to make sacrifices.
“I’ve been telling him for a couple of years that when we get to a set point, your social life will be pretty much non-existent, in the sense you just can’t go out where you want,” she said.
“He’s at that point pretty much now, which is kind of tough when you think he’s still at school.”
Faichney said the Gout camp, which includes renowned athlete manager James Templeton, were well equipped to support the star but said Australian Athletics was on hand to provide any assistance required as he transitions on to the global stage.
Australia’s Gout Gout reacts after finishing runner up in the men’s 120m handicap semi-final during the 2025 Stawell Gift at Central Park in Stawell on April 21, 2025.
“He’s phenomenal. The competitions that he has been at and the way he has engaged with kids all the way through to adults and grandparents has been amazing,” Faichney said.
“He has got some really good support behind him. His managers and his coaches have been fantastic and work really closely with him.
“We provide support that can help them when they need it and, as much as anything, we try not to overload him and get too involved, because he is a kid at the moment.
“We want to provide support (and) we will work with Di and his manager James on a way to do that … whether that be by directing things their way they can benefit from.”
“Like a champion” Gout Gout storms home | 00:40
With the World Championships being held about six weeks later than usual this year, Australian Athletics has opted to select athletes in two different groups and Faichney believes that will be beneficial for a younger athlete like Gout.
“It is a long time between now and September. It is longer than normal,” Faichney said.
“It has been beneficial for us to be able to select a group of athletes early so that they know they are on the team and they can prepare. But it really depends on what stage of their career they are at.
“Someone like Gout is able to do the training while at school and prepare himself in that way, whereas others will be on the circuit pretty much through the Diamond League, having spent last weekend in China and they will continue all the way through.
“We work closely with them to see how they can prepare all the way through to September, because it is a long way away.”
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