Since the beginning of the year, Noah Lyles made his goal crystal clear: to secure a historic four-peat at the Paris Olympics. His aim was to surpass  Usain Bolt’s triple Olympic victories—a lofty, but not impossible target for an athlete of Lyles’ caliber. With Lance Brauman, an experienced coach who has trained greats like Tyson Gay, guiding him, the challenge seemed well within reach. Expectations were high for Lyles to make history. However, ultimately, he clinched gold in the men’s 100m and bronze in the 200m, falling short of his ultimate goal. While it wasn’t the dream ending, something remarkable happened along the way.

In Paris, Lyles took 19.70 seconds to earn Olympic bronze in the men’s 200m final. Just weeks later, a 16-year-old athlete clocked 20.29 seconds in the same event, setting a new record. Though there’s a 0.59-second difference, this young runner previously surpassed Bolt’s time in the junior championships. Could a bit more fine-tuning elevate his talent to new heights, perhaps akin to Noah’s? The potential is there. However, recent reports suggest Brauman has already made his intentions clear. Could something be brewing behind the scenes?

A pro deal, an invitation, and a few more things 

On October 28, the athletic world took note when the news displayed 16-year-old Gout Gout becoming a professional sprinter after signing a deal with Adidas. At the age of 16, Usain Bolt received a similar fame, which later propelled him to become a legend. Will Gout’s trajectory land him there? When such questions are making inroads, Gout’s manager has fueled the discussion by bringing another angle. In his interaction with ABC Sport, James Templeton, the athlete’s manager, revealed, “We have the opportunity to go to Florida and join the training group of Lance Browman and Noah Lyles. There’s about, gosh, 16 or 18 top sprinters there. And we’ll be heading over for two to three weeks.” That’s something over the top chance for a budding sprinter. However, Templeton thinks that the chance to shed sweat with Noah Lyles has come because of the pro deal. 

In the interaction, the manager eloquently added, “The opportunity that’s presented himself, there’s been some publicity in the last week or so about him signing with Adidas.” But he agreed that his teenage client’s meteoric rise kept everyone off guard. How? The biggest example is the Australian’s 20.29-second timing, posted at the 200m event at the Queensland School Championships. 

Since last season, Gout Gout has been making headlines with his remarkable speed on the track. This talent earned him a time of 20.60 seconds at the World Athletics U20 Championships, where he took home a silver medal in the 200m. At just 16, he also claimed the Australian U18 record in the event. Recently, he ran an impressive 20.29 seconds, placing him fourth on the U18 all-time 200m list. The only names ahead of him? Erriyon Knighton (19.84), Usain Bolt (20.13), and Puripol Boonson (20.19). Gout’s talent has clearly placed him among track’s elite, and his raw potential could one day pose a serious challenge—even to an Olympian like Noah Lyles.

Noah Lyles may find a potential threat in his trademark event 

In the podcast, James Templeton mentioned Peter Norman’s record. Notably, in the 1968 Olympics, Norman clocked 20.06 seconds in the men’s 200m event. Since then, this timing has stood as the best ever recorded by an Australian athlete at the Olympics.. However, Templeton thinks Gout Gout will soon jump over that milestone. “We feel it’s coming. And I can’t tell you whether it’s coming in six months or 12 months. We just feel it’s not far around the corner,” Templeton teased the interest. But there’s another milestone waiting for the Australian athlete. 

At the Tokyo Olympics, the men’s 200m qualification standard was set at 20.24 seconds, meaning Gout Gout only needs to shave 0.05 seconds off his personal best to meet it. This potential milestone brings him one step closer to challenging the world’s top sprinters, including Noah Lyles. In Tokyo, Lyles secured bronze in the men’s 200m final, hinting at what Gout could aspire to. With his current trajectory, the young Australian may very well be positioning himself as a future contender for Lyles.

In the 2002 World Junior Championships, Bolt finished the 200m event in 20.61 seconds. However, at 16, Gout Gout is already faster. Even so, Templeton has stopped comparing Gout with Bolt, but the athlete is already in his endeavor. And who does not know Noah Lyles’s intention in track events? A lot of calculations, though! But are you spotting the signs?