Usain Bolt’s biggest rival Justin Gatlin fires warning after 16-year-old sensation beats record set by Jamaican legend

Former American sprinter Justin Gatlin has warned people against drawing comparisons between breakout star Gout Gout and Olympic legend Usain Bolt.

Gout has quickly gained worldwide acclaim after running Olympic-standard times at just 16 years of age.

This came with a staggering time of 20.60 seconds in the U20 World Championships – one hundredth of a second faster than Bolt’s record time in the same event in 2002.

Bolt is regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time with eight Olympic gold medals in the sport.

This includes world records in both the men’s 100m and 200m.

A time of 9.58 seconds in the 100m was set in 2009 and is yet to be beaten, while a time of 19.19 in the 200m also remains unbeaten having been set in the same year.

He also holds the world record for the 4x100m relay with a time of 36.84 which was set at the London 2012 Olympics alongside his Jamaican teammates.

The Australian has already been tipped to become Bolt’s successor however Gatlin has warned against placing unnecessary pressure on the teenager who is only just entering the sport professionally.

Gatlin, a 100m Olympic gold medalist at the 2004 Athens games, provided a timely reminder of Bolt’s achievements both at junior and senior level and said Gout has a long way to go before reaching the Jamaican’s level.

“Looking at what Bolt did – and not taking anything away from Gout Gout or anybody else that’s doing their thing right now and dominating – when Bolt was a junior, he had the junior world record, which at that point in time, in 2004, this dude ran 19 low nine. 19.93 was his record, bro.

“If you put that against these guys today, he is eclipsing them,” Gatlin told the Ready Set Go podcast.

“To say that this person is the next and that person is the next, I feel like we give the microphone to the bandwagoners.

4

4

4

“Stop putting these young athletes on a path that comes with a lot of stress and comes with a lot of pressure. Let them go out there and develop themselves. If anything, let them say, ‘No, I’m Gout Gout, I’m about to be different. I’m [Letsile] Tebogo, I’m about to be different.'”

Gout went viral earlier this month when he took silver in the 200m final at the U20 World Championships with a time of 20.60 seconds.

Gout’s current standing could be the start of an incredible trajectory over the coming years, however Gatlin hopes his pathway to the top of the sport is not hampered by unnecessary attention.

Gatlin was banned from athletics for four years in 2006 after returning a positive doping test and was later unable to eclipse Bolt who went on to dominate the sport.

His return to sprinting saw him claim 100m bronze at London 2012 and a silver medal in Rio 2016 behind Bolt who snatched gold in both.