How the fastest teen ever in the 200m got his start on the track
After seeing Gout Gout run, Di Sheppard knew he was the real deal and wanted to coach him. In the years since, the teen has broken world records.
Gout Gout: The 60 Minutes Interview 13:07 Australian sprinter Gout Gout thought he was in trouble when his school's "cranky" track coach called him over for a chat six years ago. But track coach Di Sheppard had no intention of scolding Gout, who she'd spotted running around with friends. Sheppard thought Gout was a star in the making and, in the years since, she's been proven correct.
Gout, now 18, has a slew of trophies, medals and both national and world records to his name. "It's a pretty crazy dynamic when you think about it. The old White lady and a young Black kid, you know?
It's a crazy dynamic," Gout said. "But turns out it works perfectly, and [I] wouldn't have it any other way. " The Sheppard-Gout dynamic Gout, the son of South Sudanese immigrants and one of seven kids in the family, was a student at Ipswich Grammar School in Queensland, Australia, when he met Sheppard, who had no formal track background when she started working at the school.
"I looked at him and just went, 'Oh my God. ' Something just gut punchy. It was just like, 'This kid's the real deal,'" Sheppard, now a grandmother in her 60s, said.
Continue to the original source for the full article.