Australian men's 100m record holder Patrick Johnson has lauded the "effortless" running style of 16-year-old sensation Gout Gout, saying it's only a matter of time before the youngster adds a second national sprinting record to the 200m mark he set over the weekend.
Gout Gout continues to be the talk of Australian sport following his exploits at the Australian Schools Athletics Championships in Brisbane, where he broke Peter Norman's 56-year-old national mark and set the fastest 200m time [20.04] for a 16-year-old in history.
Add to that two blistering runs in the 100 and it's easy to see why vision of Gout Gout's performances spread like wildfire across social media, garnering worldwide attention in the process.
Johnson was among those to get swept up in the performances, the two-time Olympian and fastest Australian ever over 100m in awe of Gout Gout's rapid rise.
"It was an amazing result. I was really proud to see a young kid come up and produce some results that no one was expecting, even though he had already showed that ability and talent winning a silver medal at the world under 20s championships," Johnson told ESPN.
"But I'm really proud that Australia is in a really good space, particularly with the performances across the schools [championships], we've got many young kids coming through the system that are going to create history.
"But his result was just a proud moment for me and this country, it shows you that there is just so much talent in this country, and it's now bubbling to surface... I think it's just his smooth, relaxed running. He's similar to Bolt, they say, but I think he is just running the way he runs and is comfortable doing so. But if you look at the way he runs, he's also a very good technical runner.
"He's shown at a young age what he can do; no doubt he wants my record and he'll have my record at some stage. And I'm really happy that I was the first [Australian to break 10 seconds] but I'll never be the last."
For context, Gout Gout's 200m time in Brisbane would have been good enough for sixth in the men's Olympic final for the same event in Paris in August.
But he wasn't the only athlete to catch the eye in Brisbane over the weekend, with Terrell Thorne setting a new national under-18s record for 400m [45.64], while Thewbelle Philp became the third fastest Australian woman ever over 100m when she clocked 11.38 to set a new national mark at under-17 level.
It all points to a golden era, of sorts, for Australian athletics, fresh off the back of the country's best Olympics in track and field since the 1968 Mexico Games.
There is however no debate around who the standout star is, with Johnson predicting Gout Gout will before too long have captured his national 100m mark of 9.93, set back in 2003, on his way to global sprinting stardom.
"I hope so, because he's really proved that he's got the talent and ability [to break my record]," Johnson said. "But we should also make sure that we don't put too much pressure on him too early, he's still young, and that is going to be the big thing now -- how we nurture and support him.
"If you look to the next Olympics and further ahead to 2032, he's got incredible potential to break records and shine a light on the talent in this country, and I'm really conscious that [coach] Di [Sheppard] and his family, that he has got the best team around him because the spotlight is going to come on him hard.
"He is still a kid, so we need to let him enjoy being a kid, because the world will come very quickly at him and ask him to perform under the spotlight and the pressure. When he joins the circuit and the intense racing overseas, it's really important that they manage that really well -- and no doubt they will."
After blitzing his under-18 100m heat with an illegal wind at his back in Brisbane, Gout Gout then missed the start in the final but still fought back to win and set a new national age mark of 10.17.
Johnson said Gout Gout still had plenty to learn on the track, but the scope for improvement in his performances was huge given he is just 16.
"There's a lot of areas that he has to work on, but he is only going to get stronger, he still hasn't come close to what his full strength, flexibility and speed might be," Johnson told ESPN. "And it's also the mental fortitude as well, he will go overseas and run against some of the more seasoned campaigners, which will be a great test.
"But the Peter Norman record, he even said he didn't expect to break it this year, he knew he was going to have a crack, but he was surprised to break it this early. But we don't want to set too much expectation on him, we've got to let him enjoy being a kid, enjoy running and the rest will fall into place."
Gazing a little further ahead to the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, when Gout Gout would be in his sprinting prime at 24, Australia could be set for one of the most incredible moments in the nation's sporting history.
Whether it is on the same track that Gout Gout scorched last weekend or a rebuilt Gabba remains to be seen, but Johnson said the 2032 Games presented a tantalising prospect.
"Outside of what is happening right now [with the stadium debate] I have no doubt that we will deliver the best Games in history; I know I'm biased as a Queenslander and an Australian, but we'll beat Sydney," he joked.
"But let's make sure he stays in track-and-field because there will be many other sports eyeing him off. So we all need to support him to let him live out his dreams and be the best runner that he can be, because we've all seen the level of talent and ability he has, and I look forward to seeing him break many more records and putting this country of ours on the world athletics stage."