Usain Bolt has warned Australian schoolboy sprint sensation Gout Gout that translating teenage talent into world and Olympic titles is a tough process.
Gout has earned comparisons with the Jamaican sprinting great after a string of fast times over the last year, and some in Australia have already installed him as favourite to win gold on home soil at the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
Bolt said there was no doubt the 17-year-old, who will make his world championships debut in the 200m in Tokyo next week, had talent, but that was not enough.
“If he continues on this track it’s going to be good but it’s all about getting everything right. I mean, it’s never just easy,” he said in Tokyo on Thursday.
“It’s always easier when you’re younger because I was there, I used to do great things when I was young but the transition to senior from junior is always tougher.
“It’s all about if you get the right coach, the right people around you, if you’re focused enough, so there will be a lot of factors to determine if he’s going to be great, and if he’s going to continue on the same trajectory to a championship or Olympics.”
Despite also setting age group records as a youngster, Bolt did not really make an impact on a global scale until he was 22, when he broke the 100m world record twice and won the sprint double at the Beijing Olympics.
He retired as the sport’s biggest star in 2017 with eight Olympic and 11 world championships gold medals in his trophy cabinet.
The 39-year-old said he would always welcome new talent like Gout breaking through in the sport that he loved.
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“He’s very talented, with the times he’s running now and he’s really been doing well,” he added.
“That’s something that you love to see because you want athletes to do well. The more athletes do well, the bigger the sport is, and I’m always a supporter of track and field getting bigger and doing bigger things.”
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