F1, Paris Fashion Week and 'strategy': Inside Gout Gout's wild commercial world

Teen sprint sensation Gout Gout has had some incredible offers thrown his way, like the many Formula 1 grand prix outings pitched to him and, intriguingly, an invitation to last month's Paris Fashion Week.

He's also had some bizarre offers, or requests, come his way, like the one that gauged his interest in doing the honours at the official opening of a tropical resort, and another a shopping centre.

All kinds of weird and wonderful enquiries, spanning sponsorship, event attendance, charity and media, have been lobbed Gout's way, inundating the inbox of his manager, James Templeton, who only very sparingly loops in the youngster.

READ MORE: Aussie's teary reaction to silver after brutal family request

READ MORE: Teen star's brave final after nasty crash causes injury

READ MORE: Fowler returns as Matildas name Asian Cup squad

Templeton estimates he's knocked back more than 90 per cent of the enquiries he's received.

He didn't knock back Vegemite. He spent a few months thrashing out negotiations with the iconic Australian brand, culminating in the launch of a sponsorship deal in Gout's home town, Ipswich, last week.

Despite the monumental commercial interest the 18-year-old Queenslander has attracted, the deal with Vegemite is only his second.

The first he struck was with Adidas, with whom he signed a long-term deal at 16 rumoured to be worth $6 million.

More commercial agreements, including partnerships with other global giants, are in the works, but only a small number.

Templeton has taken a cautious, long-term approach to managing the sprint superstar's budding commercial profile.

"There have been a lot of discussions over the last six to 12 months, but it's got to be the right fit and it's got to be the right deal," Templeton told Wide World of Sports.

"You've got to think that each sponsor has demands, like media shoots and appearances. There's quite a lot that goes into it. They're paying good money and they want activation."

The more commercial deals Gout signs, the less time he has for training and recovery.

"And the more energy it takes," Templeton added.

"I mean, we got to the Vegemite [partnership launch] at 6.30am [last Friday], and it takes quite a bit of focus. He's had to be switched on.

"So, throwing out a number, imagine he got a dozen sponsors in the last year, and each of them have got four, five, six activations and all sorts of stuff. Where would all his energy go? So, agreeing to too much is just a problem.

"So we haven't been in a hurry, and I've been able to be fairly exclusive and demanding about what we want. I have to be tough on their requirements, with how much social media he should do and how many activations.

"Vegemite is a company that has an understanding of what an elite athlete requires in their life — i.e., freedom to focus on training. He's not just filling in hours of his day, running off doing everything."

Templeton is also wary about stifling his commercial potential.

"My approach of taking a long-term view fits in with the confidence that I've got in him and where he's going," he said.

"If you think about it, it makes sense that if his running just continues to go onward and upward that his value will increasingly be even more.

"But imagine if I'd have hooked him up with 12 brands last year; there's no room for anything else. If we'd signed to a dozen brands, how do you have room to expand?

"And yet the deals could multiply in value, and [I'd be thinking], 'Isn't it a pity we maximised what he can do the previous year?'.

"So we've left a lot of room to grow, and that's just a strategy that fits with him as an emerging athlete. To me it was just obvious to do it that way, rather than swamp him when he's 17 and at school."

The truth is, so lucrative and lengthy is Gout's deal with Adidas — it runs through until the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games — that the sportswear juggernaut has done a lot of the heavy lifting.

"Having a great deal, a great association with Adidas gave us quite a lot of flexibility," Templeton said.

"At no stage have we been running around chasing money. Deals and value will all take care of itself."

In his oversight of Gout's commercial profile, Templeton values multi-year deals, agreements requiring only so much active engagement, partnerships that make sense from a brand association point of view and, of course, the big bucks.

Interest of all kinds — sponsorship, events, media and the like — exploded when Gout clocked 20.04 seconds in December 2024 to break the famed national record set by Peter Norman in Mexico City at the 1968 Olympics.

No other 16-year-old in world history, not even Usain Bolt, has run 200 metres so fast.

Templeton's inbox has ballooned at various times since the day Gout broke Norman's record, like when he ripped a couple of (wind-assisted) sub-10-second runs over 100m at the Australian championships last April, and when he lowered the 200m national record in a winning run at the Czech Republic's Ostrava Golden Spike meet last June, clocking 20.02.

Gout's agent has been working with a London-based sports marketing firm called IPSEM Squared so he can best manage the enormous, and delicate, commercial task at hand.

So far, so good. Gout is on board with a global juggernaut, is teamed up with a much-loved brand Down Under, and has already managed to buy a brand spanking new house.

Gout, who only turned 18 in December, will take with him his whole family — his six siblings, mother and father — when he swings open the doors of his new Ipswich home in March.

Of utmost importance is making strides on the track.

"Gout likes to say," Templeton smiled, "it's about making up the gap to the big dogs."