Noah Lyles liked what he heard. He liked what he saw.
The world and Olympic champion sprinter sat opposite Gout Gout as the 17-year-old schoolboy from Queensland quietly but unabashedly told the American star he planned to beat him … this year.
Gout was in Florida to train with Lyles. It was about learning from the world’s best, but similarly he wanted Lyles to know he was determined not to be intimidated. He might only be 17 at this year’s world championships in Tokyo in September, but he still wanted to beat the American champion 100-metre and 200m sprinter.
“I am trying to show you what’s up. I am trying to come out with a bang,” Gout said of the worlds.
“That’s what I love to hear,” Lyles laughed.
“Whatever I’ve got to do to show Noah I am coming for that spot [I will do],” said Gout. “Obviously, it’s a learning experience but deep down I’m trying to get a medal for sure or even make that final and be running up Noah or trying to chase Noah down for sure.”
Lyles eyes lit up. Gout was talking his language.
“I want you to come up to me and say, ‘Yeah I am going to take your spot’. Because if I hear somebody [who] is like, ‘Well maybe one day …’ No! It’s not one day, it’s going to be today and if it’s not today it’s the next day. And I’ll be here every step of the way, like come on don’t be scared to tell me your dream. Shout it from the top of the mountains. Come after me.”
The pair were talking on Beyond the Records, a podcast Lyles does weekly with fellow Olympic gold medal-winning track stars Grant Holloway and Rai Benjamin. The recording – which drops in full on Friday – came amid a two-week training block that Gout, his coach Di Sheppard, manager James Templeton and training partner Jonathon Kasiano (a talented 60m runner and long jumper) joined in Florida at the National Training Centre with Lyles and his coach Lance Brauman.
The trip was facilitated by adidas with whom Gout signed a mammoth (for an Australian athlete, let alone a teenaged Australian athlete) sponsorship deal last year just ahead of breaking the men’s national 200m record when he ran 20.04 seconds as a 16-year-old at the Australian all schools championships in Queensland. That record-breaking run came a day after running 10.04s in the 100m.
Gout was already a viral social media star, from some crazy runs a year ago. He was known before he was known as it were. Winning silver at the world juniors last year and then the performances at the all schools titles changed all that. His time of 20.04s was quicker even than the greatest sprinter of all time, Usain Bolt, ran as a 16-year-old. Now he was about more than an Insta feed. He was the real deal, not a reel.
Gout, who turned 17 at Christmas, returned to school for year 12 this week. But his education started a few weeks ago in Florida, well before he went back to school. For those weeks he immersed himself with Lyles, Brauman and the training group.
He didn’t learn to reinvent the wheel at training there, for you must be doing something right to run faster than any kid in the world at 16 and break a men’s national record, but the comfort was in knowing what you were doing was the same as the world’s best.
The bigger picture lesson was about being up close and around not only the world’s fastest man but the sport’s biggest showman. It was rubbing shoulders with him and seeing how he trained and not being overawed by it. It was about being comfortable with adult athletes and having an adidas crew there for two days following around at training. It was also knowing you were with the biggest athlete in the world on their turf and on their terms – so no selfies and posts on Insta.
Noah Lyles, of the United States, competes during the men’s 200-meter semifinal at the 2024 Summer Olympics.Credit: AP
“It wasn’t about learning new things in training, the education in just being immersed in this was next level,” Shepard said.
He did learn one new thing.
Gout currently is slow out of the blocks for a range of reasons tied into his age and incredibly tight Achilles tendons. Asked about it, Brauman smiled and reassured the schoolboy the improvements would come with time.
“Man to start like a man you need to get a man’s ass,” Brauman laughed.
Sheppard smiled. It was a message Gout had been given at home and echoed around the world. You can still win and run fast in the meantime, but hitting your peak will only come when your body peaks and that can’t be hurried. Gout’s body now is not going to handle the load that Lyles is doing, for Lyles himself wasn’t doing that sort of load at 17.
“It wasn’t about sitting down and having those long one-on-one conversations. That was not what it was about. Noah gave him little hints here and there when they were training, but it was more about being in the environment,” Sheppard said.
“I got Lance and one of his assistant coaches to look at his movement patterns when we were in the gym because I was a bit concerned at something I had seen, and it was more walking away with the reassurance that they saw what I saw and what we have done was on point.
Gout Gout warms up for his Boys’ U18 100m final with his coach Di Sheppard during the 2024 Australian All Schools Athletics Championship at Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre on December 06, 2024 in Brisbane.Credit: Getty Images
“The boys were respectful of their environment, but they were not intimidated by it. And that was comforting for me, to know they can go to the next level and feel comfortable in the company of the best in the world and not intimidated or like they don’t belong.
“It was good because you go into this environment, and you think, ‘Am I going to be out of my depth?’ This is an environment we have not been in before so we are going to be a bit reserved and we sat back and observed at the start but when they asked them to join them the boys jumped into training and fitted right in and realised we are not doing much different. For me, it was positive knowing moving forward we are on the right path.”
Gout also got the taste of what life will be like if he continues this trajectory. It was travelling across the world, training hard, seeing the attention that the biggest star in the sport receives and understanding how to deal with it. It was knowing, too, that there is a lot of downtime as an athlete.
Returning to school this week was returning to earth. He is a prefect at Ipswich Grammar, but each morning there are queues of younger kids wanting selfies with him. His training time has been pushed back to try to have an emptier track but still people, parents picking up kids mainly, come wandering in wanting to take pics and video of him training. It’s a distraction.
After a couple of weeks with Lyles, he better knows that some intrusions are unavoidable, and it’s how you deal with them.
Lyles also knows something about Gout – he is coming for him. And Lyles loves it.
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