Today my ankle started to hurt and over the coarse of 4 or 5 hours i could barely stand to walk on it. i can't recall doing anything to injure it. ?

Take it easy: Stay off your ankle today. Take motrin. If you are no better tomorrow, go see your doctor.

Gout a possiblity: Acute onset of joint pain that worsens very quickly could be gout. This would be most common in middle-aged or elderly men. Other possibilities include tendonitis, a flare of arthrtiis and infection. Certainly time to see your doc if not improving very quickly.