The Athletism world is keeping a close eye on a young sprinter from Australia. At 16, Gout Gout has broken a new 200 metres record in Australia, 20.04 seconds, unbroken since Peter Norman in 1968 (20.06 seconds).
His incredible speed and his young age -he also breaks record for the fastest time ever by a 16-year-old and second in the Under 18 of all time- make him a cherised star in Australia, already seeing his potential in a decade's worth of Olympic medals. Even Usain Bolt -who was slower at his age- reacted to his victory, saying "he looks like a young me" in a direct message sent to Jumpers World.
Athletics Australia is already making wordplays with his name, "Gou of this world"... except that his name is spelled incorrectly.
<social>https://x.com/AthsAust/status/1865288461256921562</social>
Gout Gout should be named Gout Gout -and pronounced gwot gwot-.
His parents, Bona and Monica, fled from Sudan to Egypt. His family name, Guot, was changed to Gout due to an Arabic spelling mistake by the Sudanese government. The paperwork then arrived to Australia, where Gout was born in 2007, in Ipswich.
Gout's parents explained it all to 7News. "When I see people called him Gout Gout, I'm not really happy for him". But his official record still name him as Gout Gout, and through his agent, the ahtlete says it's happe with his mixed-up name. "Call me Gout", he said.
<social>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnOcpInuu-o</social>
His father, Bona Gout, has said they will fix it, and joked they don't want his son to be named the same as a disease (Gout is a type of arthritis).
So, technically, the correct way to name him is still Gout Gout, until his parents fix the mistake and he regains his family name that connects him to his heritage. Hopefully, we wi will be able to call him Guot Guot by the 2028 Olympics, when he will be 20, and specially the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, when the aussie star will be 24.