Like running fast, growing pains are something sprint lord Usain Bolt knows something about. So when he tells teenage phenomenon Gout Gout that his first steps into the world of senior athletics will not be easy, the Australian ought to take heed.
“I know it’s going to be an eye-opener,” Bolt told CNN of Gout’s first year as an adult, and an impending succession of showdowns against the world’s best sprinters. “And I hope it doesn’t get him down, but motivate him to work even harder.”
Bolt showed huge promise as a teenager, winning the world juniors as a 15-year-old, but it was not until he overcame injury struggles and off-track distractions that he was able to become a world beater, when he won gold in Beijing as a 21-year-old.
Gout, 18, has already run 200m faster than Bolt did as a teenager. Having had a taste for senior international competition last year at the World Championships in Tokyo, the Australian has lined up an array of races in 2026 against the likes of Americans Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek, and Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo.
It will be a year of massive change for Gout, who turned 18 and finished high school in December.
Bolt predicts the transition will not all be smooth. “I think in the first year you will learn a lot and understand what you need to do to be better,” he said.
Gout has raced mainly in junior competitions so far, with the exception of a handful of adult 200m outings. He got a taste for the Diamond League in Monaco last year, but only in an under-23 race.
In 2026, his focus is on gold at the world juniors in August, but before then he plans to take on the best adults over 200m in prestigious meets in Oslo and Prefontaine, as well as a 150m against Noah Lyles in Ostrava.
“For me, [moving to seniors was] so big, it’s totally different,” Bolt said. “I remember coming out of high school, going on the circuit, I felt like I was on top of the world because I also was winning and running good, and when I got on the circuit, I didn’t win one race.”
Handling defeat, according to Bolt, will be just as important for Gout as improving his start or building muscle in the gym.
“The pressure that comes with it, is not going to be easy because every time you step on that track, everybody’s going to be always looking for a fast time, always looking for you to do great.
“So hopefully he has the right people to help him to understand that not every day is going to be a great day. Not every time you run, you’re going to win. It’s all about just learning right now at a young age, learning and figuring out how can I get better, how can I move forward.”
Gout has retained his core team of advisers, which includes long-time coach Di Sheppard and manager James Templeton.
Bolt, now 39, said the influence of those around him during this period should not be underestimated.
“He’s a young talent, he’s a massive young talent, I’ve always said. I just hope he finds the right people,” Bolt said.
“I think it’s so big a transition [to move from juniors] and to have the right people to help to watch you because when you, at that young age – because I was there – you start getting pulled left and right and then you forget track and field.
“So, hopefully, he has the right set of people who actually help to guide him and to keep him focused on track and field because the rest of the stuff will always be there. But if you mess up at track and field, then it all goes away.”