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Coe calls for care with sprint sensation Gout Gout

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said on Tuesday that 16-year-old Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout was a rare talent but he will need “nurturing and protecting”.

Gout ran 20.04sec for the 200m at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships at his home track in Brisbane this month, putting him second only behind Erriyon Knighton’s 19.84sec on the all-time under-18 list for the distance.

He also broke Australia’s national senior 200m record.

The lanky Gout, who was born in Australia after his parents migrated there from South Sudan, has inevitably drawn comparisons with eight-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt at the same age.

But Coe said in an end-of-year call with reporters that the teenager must be handled carefully.

“He is clearly talented, but there is a bit of realism here as well,” the Briton said.

“He is 16, 17, he is an outstanding talent. But I think anybody that you speak to in the upper echelons of Australian coaching and certainly here at World Athletics will tell you that the biggest challenge in coaching is taking a really talented 17 to 18-year-old into the upper echelons of the senior teams.”

Coe added: “We have to be realistic about this… the vast majority of people who win world junior titles don’t go on to compete for their national team at senior level.

“This is a rare and precious talent that will need nurturing and protecting.”

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