The inside story behind Gout Gout's breakthrough appearance on America's 60 Minutes
Updated . First published at
The seeds of the profile piece the USA's 60 Minutes put together on Gout Gout were planted in early June last year, when a producer from the famed American TV program contacted the teen Australian sprint sensation's manager.
The producer floated the idea with Gout's manager, James Templeton, of the teen phenom being interviewed by Jon Wertheim. He is a world-renowned, respected journalist who's profiled tennis icons Rafael Nadal and Serena and Venus Williams, NBA great Charles Barkley, and baseball megastar Shohei Ohtani.
60 Minutes was interested in profiling Gout at some point in the 58th season of the show, which kicked off in late September.
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Gout Gout on America's 60 Minutes. 60 Minutes
The producer spoke of the high regard in which America's 60 Minutes is held and the enormous reach of the show, noting the Sunday program is often watched by 12 million people, and millions more when high-profile guests are profiled.
As Templeton revealed to Wide World of Sports in February, on the back of the deal Gout signed with Vegemite, he's rejected more than 90 per cent of the media and commercial enquiries he's received.
But it was a no-brainer, in Templeton's mind, to play ball with 60 Minutes.
Templeton, who also manages 800-metre ace Peter Bol and middle-distance prodigy Cameron Myers, said no money was required for 60 Minutes to land the interview.
The gist of Templeton's thinking was 60 Minutes has a massive audience and it would be awesome for Gout, who in December turned 18, to be profiled by the flagship American program.
Gout Gout celebrates his 19.67-second 200m run at the senior Australian athletics championships in Sydney last month. Getty
If the exposure the profile piece brings to Gout boosts his commercial potential in the US, his camp won't be complaining, but that wasn't a reason for the interview being agreed to. After all, Templeton has been inundated with commercial interest, yet only two deals have been struck: one with Adidas worth a reported $6 million over eight years, and one with Vegemite.
Nor did the criticism of athletics social media influencer Erin Brown, a former US college sprinter, carry weight in the decision to agree to the interview. America, and the world, have heard the relentless babble of the trash-talking, click-baiting social media pest, but the 60 Minutes interview was not taken up, even to a slight degree, with the TikToker's gibber in mind. And 60 Minutes didn't ask Gout about his chief critic, either.
Being profiled by 60 Minutes was an attractive prospect and it wouldn't come with much distraction. The thinking, Templeton said, wasn't any deeper than that.
"Can't remember many track athletes receiving the 60 Minutes treatment," American athletics scribe Jonathan Gault wrote on X.
"Great feature ... on Gout Gout."
60 Minutes did some of the filming with Gout in Tübingen, a city in Germany's southwest, when he was in Europe for a couple of races across June and July last year.
The American production also visited him in Brisbane. They filmed an interview with the sprint sensation by the Brisbane River and tracked him at a low-key meet at Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre. The Ipswich-born prodigy will be shooting for gold in the 100m and 200m at the Brisbane Olympics in 2032.
From Templeton's point of view, Gout has become more polished in front of the cameras over the past year.
It's also clear to Templeton that Gout is not just a phenomenon in Australia, but a hit worldwide. Major media companies from all over the globe – America and Asia, Spain and Italy, the UK and Africa – have been clamouring to get a piece of the rising superstar.
The team at America's 60 Minutes are doing cartwheels.
There's a perception America is against Gout, but that's only because of how loud Brown is and his considerable social media following.
Eager to get a sense of how America really feels about the Aussie teenager, Wide World of Sports hit up top US athletics agent Stephen Haas – the manager of three-time World Marathon Majors champion Sharon Lokedi and a host of Aussie athletes, including Claudia Hollingsworth, Lauren Ryan, Delta Amidzovski and Stewart McSweyn.
"I think in general – I don't know if I should even say America – track fans like somebody like Gout, they like somebody who's exciting, somebody who's bringing excitement to the sport," Haas said.
"I think track fans across the world are excited about having another superstar, and so whether it's [18-year-old American sprint prodigy] Tate Taylor, whether it's Gout – there's lots of young talented sprinters – I would get behind anybody who's gaining traction and excitement as much as Gout is."
It's not only Gout's prodigious speed that has captivated the world, but the comparisons with Usain Bolt, and his eye-catching running style, unique name, effervescent personality and African heritage. The fact he hails from Australia, a country not known to be a strong sprinting nation historically, adds to the fascination, too.
"I think it's all of those things combined, right?" Haas said.
"And there's a lot of hype around in the age of social media. There are some videos of him emerging as a youngster, and obviously he's got a very unique style of running.
"People are excited about him."
