{"id":2878,"date":"2024-12-14T20:09:21","date_gmt":"2024-12-15T04:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=2878"},"modified":"2024-12-14T20:09:21","modified_gmt":"2024-12-15T04:09:21","slug":"gout-quincy-and-christian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=2878","title":{"rendered":"Gout, Quincy, and Christian"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The 2025 season is getting off to a flying start. I know it’s not quite 2025 just yet, but in locations south of the equator, it’s already track and field weather. Specifically Australia where sixteen year old Gout Gout has been creating quite a stir. With an Australian record of 20.04, a windy 10.04, and a legal 10.18, he’s drawing comparisons to WR holder Usain Bolt. Including many predicting him to be the next sprints WR holder.<\/p>\n

While I’m very excited about this young man, and expect to see more good things from him, I’ve been watching the sport long enough to know that youth success rarely translates to WR setting success. There’s a long list of young stars that at some point reached their pinnacle, far short of where we thought they would go. Athletes as far back as the 70’s when sprinters Houston McTear, Johnny Jones, and Dwayne Evans were all high school Olympians, and high school & Jr record setters that had good, but not great careers. The 80’s gave us Henry Thomas, Roy Martin, Joe DeLoach, and Steve Lewis. DeLoach and Lewis earning Olympic gold right out of high school, then hitting downhill spirals. Thomas and Martin never reaching the heights that were predicted.<\/p>\n

More recently, since the year 2000, we’ve had athletes that have emerged early like Candace Hill, Brianna Williams, Trentavis Friday, Jamal Walton, and Jaylen Slade. Athletes that like those previously mentioned “peaked” in high school. These are just a few of many young sprinters over many decades that peaked while still navigating puberty. There’s just as long a list of middle and long distance runners, as well as field event athletes, that were all at their best around high school age. Since the current and most recent hyped young stars have been sprinters – Gout Gout, Quincy Wilson, Christian Miller, and Matt Boling, I’ll focus this post on sprinters.<\/p>\n

Now, I’m not trying to be negative. There have been high school stars that have continued to rise after high school. Allyson Felix became the most decorated Olympian ever after becoming a high school record holder. Noah Lyles has blossomed after just missing the Olympics his senior year. Then there is Michael Norman who’s high school career was on par with Noah’s, but has been a bit mixed since. Running extremely well at times – winning a world title. Having difficulty at others – failing to make a different world final.<\/p>\n

Interestingly enough, most Olympic and World teams both domestic and foreign, are comprised of athletes that were “good” in high school. Perhaps even very good. Just not yet great. Looking at American sprinters for example, Tyson Gay, Justin Gatlin, Christian Coleman, Maurice Greene, Michael Johnson, and Kenny Bednarek are all athletes that blossomed after high school! Very good high school athletes, but no where near to being the sprinters they would become after high school! So, here are my thoughts.<\/p>\n

First off, looking at the careers of many young super stars over the years, there is a common thread among the majority of them post high school, injury! If you look at the career of every young sprinter I named above – from McTear and Evans to DeLoach and Lewis – injuries derailed their paths! The most common being pulled hamstrings. Looking at the difference between Lyles and Norman since they graduated high school, Norman has been hit by injuries, while Lyles has been basically injury free. Noah got injured in 2017, and has been flanked by a physio server since. Clearly worth the expense. When I thumb through the list of young stars over the decades, nearly every one of them “broke down” shortly after high school. It’s my belief after watching thousands of athletes over the years, that putting the kind of stress on young bodies that the highest levels of sprinting requires, does damage to bodies that may not be finished developing just yet. Damage that can’t be seen until actual injuries occur. I say, may not be finished developing, because everyone matures at different rates. You may have your adult body in high school. Or you may not get it until a few years later.<\/p>\n

This also means that you could reach your potential\/ceiling early! Athletic progress is not always linear. We like to think that you reach your peak between say 25 and 30, but that’s not always the case. Most people don’t realize that Bolt peaked at the age of 22! Two races that were significantly better than anything he would ruin afterwards. Bringing up another point. Identifying your peak performance is not a science. You never know when that moment happens. It could happen at 18, or 22, or 25, or 35. You don’t know. We assume that there’s more there. When Mike Marsh cruised to 19.73 in his semi final of the 1992 Olympic 200m, everyone assumed that the WR was his for the taking! Mike never ran that fast again. We were even more convinced that Carl Lewis was going to break the 200m WR when he ran 19.75 in 1983, holding his arms high in triumph for the final 40m or so of the race. That race ended up being his PB. By the way, Carl was just shy of his 22nd birthday. Wayde van Niekerk ran his stunning 43.03 400m in the 2016 Olympic final at 24 years of age. He’s still chasing that mark. All great athletes. Each had no idea they were running their lifetime best in that moment.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, that is one of the most exciting things about this sport. You never know what you’re going to witness in any given competition. Records, sterling results, outstanding races are subject to happen at any given moment of a track meet. Of any track meet. It’s what happens when top level athletes compete. Even among the youngest.<\/p>\n

My point to all of this is rather simple. While I’m excited about Gout Gout, Christian Miller, and Quincy Wilson, I know that history says that some other currently unnamed athletes are more likely to break the records that these young men seem to be capable of breaking. Nothing against either of them. It’s just the way the sport works. It’s how biology works. Before Bolt broke the 100m record, it looked like teammate Asafa Powell had the record on lock. The year before Bolt broke the 200m record, he lost the World Championship title to Tyson Gay. Bolt’s second world title loss in the event. That’s why they race! That said, each of today’s young stars brings an air of excitement to the sport, and it will be fun watching their journeys in search of greatness! Will they beat the odds and continue to get closer to record territory?<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Gout Gout. This looks like it could be a big break out year for him. While many are talking about Bolt, I’m waiting to see how he does compared to Erriyon Knighton. The best junior 200m sprinter to date. Gout’s next step should land somewhere under 20.00 and 10.00. If that happens in 2025 it will be quite the accomplishment. Good luck to the young man.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2025 season is getting off to a flying start. I know it’s not quite 2025 just yet, but in locations south of the equator, it’s already track and field weather. Specifically Australia where sixteen year old Gout Gout has been creating quite a stir. With an Australian record of 20.04, a windy 10.04, and a legal 10.18, he’s drawing comparisons to WR holder Usain Bolt. Including many predicting him to be the next sprints WR holder. While I’m very excited about this young man, and expect to see more good things from him, I’ve been watching the sport long enough to know that youth success rarely translates to WR setting success. There’s a long list of young stars that at some point reached their pinnacle, far short of where we thought they would go. Athletes as far back as the 70’s when sprinters Houston McTear, Johnny Jones, and Dwayne Evans were all high school Olympians, and high school & Jr record setters that had good, but not great careers. The 80’s gave us Henry Thomas, Roy Martin, Joe DeLoach, and Steve Lewis. DeLoach and Lewis earning Olympic gold right out of high school, then hitting downhill spirals. Thomas and Martin never reaching the heights that were predicted. More recently, since the year 2000, we’ve had athletes that have emerged early like Candace Hill, Brianna Williams, Trentavis Friday, Jamal Walton, and Jaylen Slade. Athletes that like those previously mentioned “peaked” in high school. These are just a few of many young sprinters over many decades that peaked while still navigating puberty. There’s just as long a list of middle and long distance runners, as well as field event athletes, that were all at their best around high school age. Since the current and most recent hyped young stars have been sprinters – Gout Gout, Quincy Wilson, Christian Miller, and Matt Boling, I’ll focus this post on sprinters. Now, I’m not trying to be negative. There have been high school stars that have continued to rise after high school. Allyson Felix became the most decorated Olympian ever after becoming a high school record holder. Noah Lyles has blossomed after just missing the Olympics his senior year. Then there is Michael Norman who’s high school career was on par with Noah’s, but has been a bit mixed since. Running extremely well at times – winning a world title. Having difficulty at others – failing to make a different world final. Interestingly enough, most Olympic and World teams both domestic and foreign, are comprised of athletes that were “good” in high school. Perhaps even very good. Just not yet great. Looking at American sprinters for example, Tyson Gay, Justin Gatlin, Christian Coleman, Maurice Greene, Michael Johnson, and Kenny Bednarek are all athletes that blossomed after high school! Very good high school athletes, but no where near to being the sprinters they would become after high school! So, here are my thoughts. First off, looking at the careers of many young super stars over the years, there is a common thread among the majority of them post high school, injury! If you look at the career of every young sprinter I named above – from McTear and Evans to DeLoach and Lewis – injuries derailed their paths! The most common being pulled hamstrings. Looking at the difference between Lyles and Norman since they graduated high school, Norman has been hit by injuries, while Lyles has been basically injury free. Noah got injured in 2017, and has been flanked by a physio server since. Clearly worth the expense. When I thumb through the list of young stars over the decades, nearly every one of them “broke down” shortly after high school. It’s my belief after watching thousands of athletes over the years, that putting the kind of stress on young bodies that the highest levels of sprinting requires, does damage to bodies that may not be finished developing just yet. Damage that can’t be seen until actual injuries occur. I say, may not be finished developing, because everyone matures at different rates. You may have your adult body in high school. Or you may not get it until a few years later. This also means that you could reach your potential\/ceiling early! Athletic progress is not always linear. We like to think that you reach your peak between say 25 and 30, but that’s not always the case. Most people don’t realize that Bolt peaked at the age of 22! Two races that were significantly better than anything he would ruin afterwards. Bringing up another point. Identifying your peak performance is not a science. You never know when that moment happens. It could happen at 18, or 22, or 25, or 35. You don’t know. We assume that there’s more there. When Mike Marsh cruised to 19.73 in his semi final of the 1992 Olympic 200m, everyone assumed that the WR was his for the taking! Mike never ran that fast again. We were even more convinced that Carl Lewis was going to break the 200m WR when he ran 19.75 in 1983, holding his arms high in triumph for the final 40m or so of the race. That race ended up being his PB. By the way, Carl was just shy of his 22nd birthday. Wayde van Niekerk ran his stunning 43.03 400m in the 2016 Olympic final at 24 years of age. He’s still chasing that mark. All great athletes. Each had no idea they were running their lifetime best in that moment. At the end of the day, that is one of the most exciting things about this sport. You never know what you’re going to witness in any given competition. Records, sterling results, outstanding races are subject to happen at any given moment of a track meet. Of any track meet. It’s what happens when top level athletes compete. Even among the youngest. My point to all of this is rather simple. While I’m excited about Gout Gout, Christian Miller, and Quincy Wilson, I know that history says that some other currently unnamed athletes are more likely to break the records that these young men seem to be capable of breaking. Nothing against either of them. It’s just the way the sport works. It’s how biology works. Before Bolt broke the 100m record, it looked like teammate Asafa Powell had the record on lock. The year before Bolt broke the 200m record, he lost the World Championship title to Tyson Gay. Bolt’s second world title loss in the event. That’s why they race! That said, each of today’s young stars brings an air of excitement to the sport, and it will be fun watching their journeys in search of greatness! Will they beat the odds and continue to get closer to record territory? Congratulations to Gout Gout. This looks like it could be a big break out year for him. While many are talking about Bolt, I’m waiting to see how he does compared to Erriyon Knighton. The best junior 200m sprinter to date. Gout’s next step should land somewhere under 20.00 and 10.00. If that happens in 2025 it will be quite the accomplishment. Good luck to the young man.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[653,447,264],"class_list":["post-2878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-gout","tag-miller","tag-wilson"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa3DCY-Kq","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2854,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=2854","url_meta":{"origin":2878,"position":0},"title":"Who is the World’s Fastest Human","author":"CHill","date":"July 27, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"On the eve of the start of track and field at the Paris Olympic Games, there are several individuals online taking umbrage with the media referring to Noah Lyles, the reigning World 100m champion, as the World's Fastest Human (WFH)! Stating that Usain Bolt is still the \"fastest man alive\".\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/cropped-6B8E235B-830F-4861-93D3-7B66B5A82440-150x150.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":216,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=216","url_meta":{"origin":2878,"position":1},"title":"Ten Overlooked Moments From the World Championships","author":"CHill","date":"August 11, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"This time of year everyone looks back on their favorite moments from World Championships past. Reading various articles all over I've come across the standard fare. The Tokyo 100 meter final and long jump. Jonathon Edwards' 60 foot triple jump and several other WOW moments from the championships. 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This is a man that was among the best high school sprinters\/hurdlers in the country (10.36\/13.66) when he\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"AT&T USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships - Day Two","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/b\/8\/9\/7\/ATT_USA_Outdoor_ec4d.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2739,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=2739","url_meta":{"origin":2878,"position":3},"title":"Budapest Predictions","author":"CHill","date":"August 13, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"We're almost there. Literally days away from the 2023 version of the World Championships in Budapest Hungary. As usual the internet is buzzing with discussions of athletes and predictions. Though this time around there's as much bad news as good news. For example, the British team has decided not to\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/E84FD72B-E78B-4313-B88E-EF5F420C1A1B-150x150.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1799,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1799","url_meta":{"origin":2878,"position":4},"title":"Indoors Closing With a Bang","author":"CHill","date":"March 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This past weekend saw a rash of big time indoor performances as the European and US Championships were held. Below are my top half dozen performers\/performances from the weekend. Initially I was going to do a top five as that's a more common number, but that Mary Cain just had\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 7 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 7 comments","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1799#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mary Cain","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Cain_thumb.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":391,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=391","url_meta":{"origin":2878,"position":5},"title":"Relay Chat in the Aftermath of the Zurich 37.45","author":"CHill","date":"September 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Ahh the discussion about relays. Doesn\u2019t matter who is in the race, relays always elicit a lot of conversation. Which is why they should be on meet schedules far more often than they are! Take the recent Weltklasse meet in Zurich. The US team in the race came away with\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=391#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"Michael Rodgers of the U.S. celebrates after crossing the finish line to win the men's 4x100m relay event at the IAAF Diamond League athletics meeting at the Letzigrund stadium in Zurich August 19, 2010. REUTERS\/Ruben Sprich (SWITZERLAND - Tags: SPORT ATHLETICS)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view2.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/9568556\/rodgers-celebrates-after\/rodgers-celebrates-after.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2878"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2879,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2878\/revisions\/2879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}