TOKYO: Gout Gout has the gift of speed. Serious speed. He also has the gift of the gab.
"It's a free hit," he said of the semi-final run awaiting him. "I'll just go out there, run like a horse, run like the wind, you know?"
The world's fastest schoolboy was chatting to a heaving press pack after running his heat of the men's 200 metres at the world athletics championships on Wednesday night.
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He nailed his heat, galloping down the home straight at Japan's Olympic stadium and dashing across the line in third place.
Mission accomplished.
On Thursday night, he'll be lacing up again.
"Hopefully I get a start … and I'm off like a butterfly," the 17-year-old said.
The zingers kept on coming.
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"I'm just doing my thing for a young bull," he said, "trying to get into the final running like the wind."
Gout had just strolled off the track after running in green and gold for the first time, minus the junior stuff.
"It's great experience," the Aussie prodigy said, surrounded by a couple dozen journalists hailing from all over the globe.
"I mean, running against the big dogs, you know? It's great. I'm just excited for more.
"I think the biggest difference is the competition level. It's definitely top notch. So it's [about] going in there and trying to be top notch."
The world has known of Gout's prodigious sprinting talent for some time, largely thanks to race clips surfacing on social media and taking off like wildfire.
Now, as his star continues to rise, the world is getting to know Gout the character.
His lingo is a hoot, and he has a heart of gold.
Post-race on Wednesday night, he went up to every one of the other runners in his heat, one by one, to initiate a handshake and a hug.
Adidas kingpin Spencer Nel was seated only a few paces away, among about 30 staffers from the global sportswear juggernaut in the front row of the crowd.
Adidas, of course, secured Gout's prized signature on a reported $6 million deal last October, when he was still 16.
"We were right there watching that [Gout going up to every one of the other runners], and members of the team pointed out exactly that," Nel, Adidas' long-time track and field marketing boss, told Wide World of Sports.
"They said, 'Look, he's actually physically going and saying good job, shaking everybody's hands and giving them a hug', every single one in the race against him, which is kind of cool.
"But that's not the first time I've seen him do that. In fact, I think he does that every time he races.
"That's a special side of him.
"Other people will run up the stairs, run through the mixed zone or do what they need to do, but he's one that always takes the time to go and acknowledge everybody in the race against him."
Ask anyone in Gout's inner circle what he's like and they'll say he is an absolute delight.
"And that's a testament to the people around him," Nel said.
"His coach [Di Sheppard] has obviously instilled those kind of values in him, as have his parents, who have had their own journey. He's obviously respectful of that. Sharing a room with his older brother — go figure!"
Gout's respect for his parents shone through in his solitary pre-world championships media commitment.
"I think focus and, I reckon, motivation and integrity and confidence," Gout said, listing some of the values his parents had ingrained in him.
He was born in Ipswich to South Sudanese parents, Bona and Monica, who migrated to Australia via Egypt in 2006. Gout is one of seven kids.
"The sport-based things, they definitely instilled in me," he said.
"They're hardworking as well."
And what does Nel think of Gout's endless supply of zingers?
"He's just a natural," he said with a chuckle, "and I think that's one of the things that people love about him."
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