Gout Gout has taken the sprinting world by storm since racing on to the scene just a few years ago.
Since then he has gone from strength to strength, with the teenage sensation setting a sizzling 19.67 200m time in the Australian National Championships earlier in April.
While many have been left in awe of the young sprinter, some, mainly from America have raised their eyebrows at the time set.
Questions have been raised by the likes of Erin Brown, who questioned whether the time was legit given the personal bests set by other runners in the same final.
But that is not the first time Brown has interjected himself into Gout’s young career, claiming he was being set up for failure claiming he ‘only races bums.’
However, those taunts don’t appear to be having an impact on his preparations for the 2028 Olympics, as coach Di Sheppard has made it clear Gout will not be leaving Australia any time soon.
Di Sheppard has joked that if she is stuck in Australia than Gout Gout will be stuck with her
Sheppard has played a critical role in the success of the teenage sensation
The two have worked together for over five years now and it has provided impressive results
‘They say this (Gout needs to relocate) because no Aussie has done it before, but no kid has run this speed before either,’ Sheppard told the Courier Mail.
‘And I’m supposedly not good. We’ve heard it all.
‘But the thing is we have enough people behind us. We can go to people we value who can help us make sure Gout keeps improving.
‘Packing his bags totally and moving overseas? If Gout is stuck, then I’m stuck, too, and he has known that from day dot.
‘When I say stay in Australia, we will probably go overseas and do training blocks, because if we can’t provide the stimulus here, he needs to find the stimulus.
‘But look at what we have got coming through now. We have the stimulus here. We have got it in comps.
‘If they (quality Australian sprinters) keep coming through, we’ll keep that cycle going.’
‘The critics say we haven’t done it outside Australia.’
‘But we have been outside Australia. We’re not unproven. This kid is still maturing. The World Champs are coming up and Gout has 15 years left, so he has got time on his side.’
‘Doesn’t this criticism light up the world?’ she said.
‘It’s what the sport needs. We can look at it as criticism but has it put the sport back on the world map? Yep.
‘If that’s what it takes, we will roll with it.
‘If everyone is going to get bitter and twisted over commentary, then none of us will move forward.
‘This is part of it for Gout. Read the football comments after a game when someone loses, it’s no friggin’ different. He has to get used to it. You will always have naysayers, so we will roll with it.
‘We know we have to do it overseas. We’re not stupid. We’re not going into this with blinkers on.’
Even though Sheppard remains defiant, the rising star is set to attend a training camp in America with fellow Adidas stablemate Noah Lyles.
‘Yep, it will be a great experience for him,’ Sheppard said as Gout flew out for the US.
‘I’m not saying what he could do (racing Lyles) because we have to get there first and see how he pulls up. He has one race before that race (against Lyles).
‘It (doing camps with Lyles) has been good for him. Because when you train with Noah Lyles, you learn about the intensity, the expectations, and how a group at that level – they are all just about Olympians – how they all gel together. There’s a lot of big personalities, so it’s how it all goes together, fitting in, it’s like being in the schoolyard again isn’t it?
‘We’ve all done it at different stages of our lives. It’s just another stage of him going into another schoolyard.’
Gout Gout has joined a training camp with Olympic gold medallist Noah Lyles
Erin Brown (pictured right) has launched multiple attacks on the Queenslander
Brown (pictured) claims that Gout has only raced ‘bums’ thus far in his career
Before questioning his 19.67 Brown said that Gout hasn’t faced anyone of note on his TikTok account: ‘The next Usain Bolt got brutally destroyed at the world championships,’ Brown began.
‘Gout Gout, the 17-year-old from Australia who turns 18 in about two months, went out there and got embarrassed.
‘You are a professional athlete now… you running (against) those little white kids in Australia running 22 seconds (over 200m).
‘It’s easy to run fast against nobody. Your body is relaxed, it’s easy to maintain your posture and your form because you’re not under pressure.
‘He’s never been in a race where it’s been close and he’s had people in front of him.
‘He only races bums.’
Gaining experience in different environments is key to any athletes success and racing well against Lyles in an exhibition 150m contest could help quieten some of the critics.
