Gout Gout

Bruce McAvaney will sit down with champion teen sprinter Gout Gout ahead of his Maurie Plant Meet.

McAvaney is joined by Olympians Matt Shirvington, Raelene Boyle, and Cathy Freeman.

"[Gout] is just something else," Freeman tells McAvaney. "Watching him race, it's like he's been shot out of a cannon or something. He's quite extraordinary.

"He's probably smarter than I was at that age. He's quicker. But he's certainly got the world at his feet."

McAvaney added: "To think Gout was a cross-country official at what might turn out to be an Olympic Stadium says much about his ambition to compete at home in 2032. It's distant, yet so close."

He's the fastest man in Australia… on track to become the fastest man alive.

In case anyone missed it, in December last year the teenage sprinting phenomenon blasted onto the world stage when he broke the Australian 200m sprint record set by Peter Norman 56 years ago – at just a month shy of 17

The greatest-ever didn't run this fast, at his age. But Usain Bolt went on to set records still to be broken and was unbeaten across three Olympic Games – hence all the fuss about Gout Gout.

Going into the Aussie record books was incredible enough, but it was being faster than Bolt at just 16 that launched Gout into the athletics universe.

The comparisons are obvious. It's not just the times, there's also the technique and the way he wins, coming from the back of the field like a hurricane.

Gout's team have no doubt he's on the trajectory of greatness. His take-no-prisoners coach, Di Shepperd, says that it isn't a question of "might" but "when". Manager James Templeton echoes that sentiment, declaring there is no doubt that doubt Gout will be an Olympic finalist.