Australia’s fastest teenager, Gout Gout, has reportedly turned down a string of lucrative sponsorship offers from major international sporting giants, all because they wanted him to leave the country.
The 17-year-old sprint prodigy has been courted by brands from around the globe, some dangling eye-watering contracts on the condition he move to elite training hubs like Jamaica.
But his manager, James Templeton, has kept him grounded, literally, preferring the young star stay close to his family and coach Di Sheppard in Ipswich.
“The number kept getting higher”
“JT [Templeton] told me how much they were willing to pay to get me on their side,” Gout told GQ Australia. “It was crazy. The number kept getting higher and I realised how much these companies think I’m worth.”
Instead, Gout signed one of the biggest endorsement deals in Australian athletics history with Adidas, one that allows him to remain in his familiar surroundings.
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The support means he no longer needs to juggle school with part-time work just to fuel up his car.
“It definitely helps a lot,” he said. “Especially since I’m at school, so I don’t need to go and find a job at Maccas or whatever.”
Raised in Ipswich with six siblings, Gout has kept his spending modest despite the hype and financial windfall. “I’ve saved a lot and I bought myself a new car when I got my Ps, so that’s probably the biggest purchase I’ve made so far. I haven’t gone crazy.”
The rising star, who stunned the nation by breaking Peter Norman’s 56-year-old 200m record last December, will next race at the U23 Diamond League meet in Monaco during the July school holidays before setting his sights on September’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.