‘His dad made a few comments’: Manager tries to clear up Gout Gout name confusion

The manager of emerging Aussie sprint superstar Gout Gout has moved to clear up the confusion around the 16-year-old’s name.

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Though in a way, he’s only made it worse.

Gout ran a 10.04sec in the 100 metres and broke the Australian 200m record with a 20.04sec at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships last week, setting the athletics world ablaze.

But amid all the commentary around the 56-year-old record, set by Peter Norman at the 1968 Olympics before he stood on the podium with Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos as they did their Black Power salute, one question has emerged.

Gout’s father, Bona, told Seven News his son’s name was actually Guot (pronounced ‘Gwot’), and he was keen to move away from the name Australians have come to know.

“His name is Guot, it’s supposed to be Guot,” Bona said.

“When I see people called him Gout Gout I’m not really happy for him.

“I know that Gout Gout is a disease name but I don’t want my son to be called a disease name … it’s something that’s not acceptable.”

According to the Australian government’s Health Direct website, the medical issue gout is a condition that can cause attacks of a type of arthritis (joint inflammation), primarily on the big toe joint but it can impact any joint in the body, based on a build-up of the chemical urate (uric acid) in your body. It can cause permanent damage to your joints over time and is more common among older men.

The mix-up emerged when his parents fled to Egypt, due to confusion with Arabic spelling, before they immigrated to Australia.

Gout was born two years later, in 2007, in Ipswich, Queensland.

But despite Gout’s dad’s comments, his manager James Templeton has declared the name will remain.

“Firstly, it is Gout Gout,” Templeton told SEN’s The Run Home.

“Yeah yeah, I know there’s been a bit of discussion, and I know his dad made a few comments, but Gout Gout is how it’s gonna be.

“Categorically, it’s Gout Gout. You know, the thing you hope to avoid in your ankle. That’s how it’s pronounced.”

Templeton is trying to help keep a lid on all the hype, especially after comparisons to Usain Bolt emerged following the teen’s record-setting run.

“I’ve avoided using the ‘UB’ comparison. I think that’s unfair to a young athlete,” Templeton told the ABC Sport Daily podcast last week.

“For 18 months I’ve basically said a blanket ‘no’ to every media outlet in Australia that has asked. We just want to allow him to be a normal kid at school. We don’t want him to have any distraction.

“It’s all going to be ahead of him. We want his life to be as normal as possible for as long as possible.

“But the modern world with viral videos, despite saying no to media he has gone viral and everybody is starting to get to know him.”