Noah Lyles believes Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout is a better sprinter than the 100m Olympic champion was at the same age.
Gout missed out on a place in the 200m final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo after finishing fourth in his semi-final in 20.36sec, but the 17-year-old showed off his huge promise at his first global meet.
“He’s more talented than I was,” said Lyles, who recorded the fastest time of the semi-finals in 19.51sec. “He’s an amazing kid, he’s got a great head on him, he’s got a great team around him.”
Lyles said the challenge of competing as a professional will change dramatically for Gout, who is still currently a student.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how he develops,” Lyles added. “The thing that I always look for when I’m looking at younger talent is, ‘hey, are you just going to be able to train into shape?’ Because when you’re in high school, you’re able to just get races all the time whenever you want. But as a pro, you’ve got to come prepared already.
“And then, too, just seeing how they put some weight room on him as time develops, naturally, not just like all at once. But again, he’s got a great coach, she’s constantly looking to be a better coach and she’s constantly looking to be the best for him, so we’ll see. I’d say the future looks bright for him.”
Gout was buoyed by his performance on the big stage, despite missing out on a dinal spot.
“Obviously, I was aiming for that sub [20 seconds], but today wasn’t the day, God didn’t allow it today, but I know for sure in the future, it’s going to be coming.”
He added: “The biggest eye-opener is knowing that I can compete at the young age I am, against the best men in the world.
“The thing that I have on them is time. They may not have 15 years, but I’ve got 15 years for sure. So I know that I can keep running, and I know that if I can do this at 17, I could do this at 25 as well, and I’ll be even better at 25.”
Lyles laid down a marker in his semi-final to set up a mouth-watering Friday final with fellow American Kenny Bednarek and Jamaican Bryan Levell, who were similarly impressive but, unlike Lyles who ran hard through the line, turned the burners off 50m out.
Britain’s Zharnel Hughes will also feature in a final stacked with talent, while his British teammate Dina Asher-Smith goes in the women’s final.
