- The real name is Guot, correctly pronounced “Gwot”.
- Athletics star Bona’s father is upset by continued mistakes
- Gout’s manager James Templeton on a different page
The manager of Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout has bizarrely declared that the incorrect way of saying the teenager’s name is here to stay.
This comes despite Gout’s father Bona recently confirming that his son’s name is actually Guot, pronounced “Gwot.”
“First of all, it’s the drop,” James Templeton told SEN Radio.
‘Yes, yes, I know there’s been a bit of an argument and I know your dad made some comments, but the drop is what it’s going to be.
‘Categorically, it is Gota Gota. You know, what you hope to avoid on your ankle.
“That’s how you pronounce it.”
James Templeton (left), the manager of Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout, has bizarrely declared that the incorrect way of saying the teenager’s name is here to stay.
This comes despite Gout’s father Bona (pictured, in white shirt) recently confirming that his son’s name is Guot and is pronounced “Gwot.”
James Templeton told SEN: ‘Categorically, it’s a drip. You know, what you hope to avoid on your ankle.
Bona Guot is convinced that his son’s current pronunciation “is not acceptable.”
“It’s called Guot, it’s supposed to be Guot,” he said. ‘When I see that people call him Gota Gota, I’m not very happy for him.
‘I know Gout Gout is the name of a disease, but I don’t want my son to be called that… it’s not acceptable.’
Daily Mail Australia understands the reason for the error is an Arabic translation error made by the Sudanese government when the family emigrated to Egypt.
The mishap also occurred before Gout was born in Australia.
The Ipswich product has set the athletics world alight with his blistering speed, producing the fastest 200 meters ever run by a 16-year-old.
His recent time of 20.04 at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships in Brisbane makes him the sixth fastest athlete in the world under the age of 20.
Gout also recorded a spectacular 10.04 in his 100 meter heat and won the final.
Meanwhile, Athletics Australia president Jane Flemming has said the sporting organization will look to “temper” the hype surrounding teenage sprint sensation the drop.
Flemming, who won gold medals in the heptathlon and long jump at the Commonwealth Games, stressed that expectations should not reach manic levels.
Gout recently broke a 56-year-old Australian record to become the world’s fastest 16-year-old over 200 meters at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships.
Former athletics star turned TV identity Matt Shirvington has been impressed, suggesting the prodigy has more potential than Olympic legend Usain Bolt.
“You can imagine at this point he will have all the sporting codes, all the agents, all the commercial entities, everyone will be after him and he hasn’t even finished year 11,” he told 2GB’s Wide World of Sports.
‘Part of our responsibility as an organization is to make sure that the young person reaches the age of 30 in good physical and mental shape, so we must try to moderate it… make sure that they go back to school, go out with their peers, he passes through everything well, while continuing to progress along the way.
‘It’s a long road. No wonder he’ll probably do the world championships next year and then the Olympics and other Olympics and maybe other Olympics after that.’
Flemming added that Athletics Australia wants Gout to “have a long and fruitful career”, and the youngster is lucky to have a “fantastic coach in Di Sheppard”.
Former athletics star turned TV identity Matt Shirvington has been impressed, suggesting the prodigy has more potential than Olympic legend Usain Bolt.
And even Bolt himself was impressed, stating that Gout “looks like me when I was the same age.”