What would happen if the greatest sprinter of all time went head to head with the sport's most exciting young prospect?
Usain Bolt hung up his singlet in 2017 when Gout Gout was just nine years old, but thanks to the wonders of modern technology we can see what might have happened if the eight-time Olympic gold medal winner raced against the teenage Australian.
Gout has taken the sprinting world by storm, becoming the hottest up-and-coming property in men's track athletics. Now 17, the Queenslander has a 100 metres personal best of 10.17 seconds and holds the Australian and Oceanian record with a lightning-quick 200m best of 20.04 seconds.
Even Bolt has slowed down a touch now but the 38-year-old still holds the world records for both distances. He ran the 200m in 19.19 seconds at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin in 2009, smashing his own world record time at the Beijing Olympics in the previous year.
Thankfully, YouTube channel MotionAthlete is on hand to model their performance and pit them against one another on a flat track.
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The 3D animator and motion designer has modelled the speed of the newcomer against Bolt's at 16 years old, answering the question of whether Gout is on track to challenge Bolt's 200m record.
The 3D simulation rewinds Bolt's performance to 2003 and races it against Gout based on typical race patterns, and the result is both instructive and watchable.
Bolt is slower out of the blocks than the Australian but tears past him in time to clock a 50m split of 5.89 seconds compared to Gout's 6.06 seconds.
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From there, 3D Bolt streaks away, hitting 100m at 10.33 seconds while Gout, already starting to close the gap, is there at 10.69 seconds.
By the 150m marker, the Australian is just just a tenth of a second behind Bolt and closing. Then it gets really interesting.
MotionAthlete's animation reveals the explosive finishing power of Gout as he reels in the rejuvenated future world record holder inside the final 50, blasting past him to take gold with that 20.04-second personal best almost a tenth of a second faster than 16-year-old Bolt's time of 20.13 seconds.
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It seems the future is bright for the Aussie.
Topics: Usain Bolt, Athletics
Chris Nee