‘He Should Play with His Agemates’ - Letsile Tebogo Gives Timely Advice to Gout Gout

Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo has offered some words of caution to Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout, advising the teenager to take a more measured approach to his career following a tough Diamond League debut in Oslo.

The 18-year-old Australian finished sixth in the men's 200m on Wednesday, June 10, recording a time of 20.60 seconds after a slow start. The performance was a stark contrast to the stunning 19.67 seconds he ran at the Australian Athletics Championships in April, a time that not only broke his national record but also surpassed Usain Bolt's fastest mark as a teenager.

While Gout found the competition challenging, Botswana's Tebogo delivered a dominant performance, winning the race in 19.84 seconds and shaving more than a tenth of a second off his season's best.

After the event, Tebogo expressed his desire to speak with the young Australian but noted the intense media focus on him made it difficult.

"After the race, I wanted to talk to Gout Gout, but he is so busy with all the media," Tebogo told Track and Field Gazette.

The reigning Olympic 200m champion then shared some candid advice, suggesting the young star should continue competing primarily against athletes his own age.

"First and foremost, he should not get comfortable racing with the seniors. He still has a long way to go," Tebogo stated. "He should, by all means, play with his age mates where he is a bit more comfortable, because the more he runs, the more he pushes, and the more injuries he is going to get. I hope his management, the coaches, and everybody around him will advise that because that is what worked for me."

Tebogo's counsel is rooted in his own experience. The Botswanan athlete rose to prominence after winning the 100m title at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali before making a gradual transition to the senior circuit. He noted that many of his peers struggled after moving up too quickly.

"I have seen a lot of people my age racing with seniors, and it did not go well for them," he added. "I believe I am the only one still standing from Kenya through Cali until now and running with the seniors."

Despite the result in Oslo, Gout's rapid ascent remains a major storyline in athletics. His 19.67-second run in April, achieved with a legal +1.7m/s tailwind, made him the first Australian to break the 20-second barrier in the 200m. That time would have been sufficient for a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics and silver at the Tokyo Games, sparking comparisons to Jamaican legend Usain Bolt.

Gout will have little time to reflect on his Oslo performance, as a significant challenge awaits him next week. The Australian prodigy is scheduled to compete against reigning Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles in a highly anticipated 150m race at the Ostrava Golden Spike Meeting.

Lyles, an Olympic gold medalist and four-time world 200m champion, is one of the most decorated sprinters of his generation. While the two have never raced against each other, they trained together in Clermont, Florida, in January 2025. For Gout, the event marks a return to a familiar track where he won the 200m last year in 20.02 seconds, a performance that first signaled his arrival as a top young talent.