Gout Gout fans hit with reality check after Matt Shirvington makes staggering prediction

Australian athletics great Matt Shirvington says he believes teen sprint sensation Gout Gout will be the greatest athlete the nation has ever produced and that comparisons with Usain Bolt are justified. However Athletics Australia president Jane Flemming has called for calm.

The 16-year-old Queenslander sent shockwaves around the world at the Australian All Schools Championships in Brisbane over the weekend after breaking a national record in the 200m that had stood for 56 years. Gout crossed the finish line in a staggering time of 20.04 seconds to break the Australian record in the 200m that Peter Norman set more than half a century ago.

Norman's 20.06 at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968 had long been untouchable in Australia until Gout's incredible record-breaking run on Saturday that was also the fastest-ever by a 16-year-old in the event. The extraordinary run broke the age record Bolt previously held with his best mark of 20.13 and even led to the greatest sprinter of all time declaring that Gout "looks like young me" after commenting on a post from 'Jumpers World' on social media.

Gout's feat made headlines around the globe and has left the athletics world daring to dream of what he could achieve at the next two Olympics Games in Los Angeles 2028 and at Brisbane in 2032. Speaking on Channel 7's 'Sunrise', Australian Olympic sprinter Shirvington said he's already seen enough of the teenage phenom to predict he will be the country's greatest of all time.

“Just on the fact that he is such an amazing athlete and has done something... the most coveted record in sprinting was Peter Norman’s 200m record that he did in that iconic race. That black power race in Mexico City,” Shirvington said. “The fact that he has come out as a 16-year-old - he’s not 17 until the 29th of December - is a phenomenal thing... The other thing, too. He ran 10.04, a windy 10.04. That’s the fifth fastest in all conditions by an Australian... “He will be the greatest athlete we have ever produced in this country. Saying that hands down.

“And I honestly believe a lot of people are comparing him to the GOAT, Gout to the GOAT, who is Usain Bolt, of course. I think he’s got more. I think he’s got more to produce the goods.” Gout also dominated the 100m sprint at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships, backing up his wind-assisted 10.04 with a legal 10.17, despite it not even being his pet event.

Jane Flemming wants Gout Gout expectations tempered

But Athletics Australia president and Olympian Flemming said while she was "super excited" by what Gout was achieving, she warned that expectations around the teenager needed to be kept in check. "I think we're excited but trying to be tempered because he's so young and you can imagine at the moment he's going to have every sporting code, every agent, every commercial entity, they'll all be chasing him and he hasn't even finished year 11," she told 2GB's Wide World of Sports radio.

"Part of our responsibility as an organisation is to make sure the young man gets to his 30's in good physical and mental shape so we need to try and temper it, make sure he gets back to school, does year 12 next year, hangs out with his mates, has a good time with it all, while still progressing him on the way through. It's a long road...

"That's the idea, for him to have a long and fruitful, enjoyable career and not get too serious. His coach is fantastic, Di Sheppard, she's been with him all the way along and they have a really close relationship and so I think that's really going to help. We do feel an enormous amount of responsibility, while we're trying to temper our excitement as well because he's just phenomenal."

Aussie sprint coach says Gout Gout still has plenty to learn

Gout will still be only 20 when the LA Games rolls around in 2028, and should be coming into the peak of his powers for his home Olympics in Brisbane four years later. But while renowned Aussie sprint coach Roger Fabri says the nation is justifiably excited about what the future holds for the teen sensation, he's also warned that Gout is still a "raw" talent with plenty still to learn.

"You look at him on a mechanical side of things and he's still very, very raw and I feel like that talent will only get you so far," Fabri told SEN radio. "I just feel for him to get to the highest level that just a couple of things need to be cleaned up mechanically... and I'm sure as he rises through the ranks and gets a little older that may just come with maturity.

"He's a very similar prototype to how (Usain) Bolt was at his age. They almost look similar in their running gates. But if you look at Bolt when he ran 9.58 to be a world champion, it's very different to the 16-year-old Bolt. And that's where he (Gout) needs to get to."