TOKYO Erriyon Knighton may be one of the youngest people in decades to represent the U.S. in men's track at the Olympics but he sailed through to the final of the 200-meter to compete with the fastest men in the world. Terry believes he can lower his 200 time to 19.39 this summer and, if he runs a perfect race, can run 19.18 or faster a world record in 2024. In 2014, Bromell, of nearby St. Petersburg, became the first junior sprinter to run the 100 in less than 10 seconds (9.97), while winning an N.C.A.A. "That Tokyo experience is something no-one can ever take from you, I will always have that experience. Knighton chose to turn professional while a junior at Tampa Hillsborough High School. Knightons speed was easy to see on the football field, making enough plays as a lanky receiver to draw scholarship offers from football programs like Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Tennessee and Auburn. Knighton, who ranks seventh among Americans in the 200m since the start of this year, will face stiff competition to crack the top three and make the US Olympic team with Noah Lyles, Kenny Bednarek and Terrance Laird (who have each run 19.81 or faster) having separated themselves from the pack. He finished just off the podium in Wednesday's final. Southeastern Conference powers including Georgia and Alabama showed interest. "Today, he was warming up (in the shot put) throwing 59 (feet). Months later, he finished fourth in the 200 at the Tokyo Olympics, so his victory at this low-key meet was not unexpected. He thinks it would be much harder for him to keep working if he didnt. Youll usually find this icon in the upper right-hand corner of your screen. He starts his day with like 10 eggs in the morning and likes a pound of ribeye every night. Hailing from Tampa, Florida, the teenager entered his junior year at Tampa's Hillsborough High School in 2021, according to the high school's HHS Today website. But Knighton shaved more than three-tenths of a second from his previous best of 19.84. Hes fearless, and that factors into how hard he trains. And plenty were watching. Furthermore, his mother tweets as @knighton Ms. Erriyon also has two siblings named Nasja and Quay. Erriyon Knighton stands a good 6 foot 3 inches tall and has not stopped growing compared to Bolts 6 foot 5 inches tall. One of our greatest Terrier traditions continues! You couldnt get him tired, he said. But I was though, but not really, he said. Idon't think about much when I'm out there, just winning the meet," he said. Mo., still holds the 8-under AAU national record in the javelin,a sport he's left behind. He finished fourth in 19.93 seconds behind the Olympic champion Canadian Andre De Grasse, silver medallist Kenny Bednarek, and bronze He has currently amassed 26.6k followers and has posted only 4 posts as of now. Fellow Florida athlete and Jamaican international Briana Williams, then 17, went with Nike in January of 2020. In June, the then 17-year-old became the youngest American man to make a United States Olympic athletics team in 57 years. He could no longer compete for his school. Much the same way, Knighton was scheduled to get home late Tuesday night, but was headed to Miami later in the week and then to Budapest, Hungary, where hell compete in an event next week, then training in the United Kingdom before arriving in Tokyo, where the opening ceremonies are barely three weeks off on July 23. When he joined track as a freshman following his coach's request, he saw it as a training ground that would allow him to be a better football receiver and be able to run quicker on the football field. They send him gift cards in the mailso he can order Adidas gear online or in the store. Im like, Man, youre way faster than those guys. He was recruited to multiple colleges for football but decided to go pro in track before his 17th birthday and signed with Adidas. I definitely can be faster, he said. I take it they are not saying that now? Congratulations Erriyon. I talked to him before the USA Championships, and I said, You have to run the 200 meters. You cant take it as, Oh, my God, I have to win this USA Trials. If you run 200 meters to the best of your ability, youre going to be fine.. "He was warning up at 140. Knighton was sent down a different path. While hopes remain high for the rising Olympic star's sprinting career, Knighton's athletic roots were in football. With latest scores and headlines sent straight to your device, personalisation and much more, ensure you have a great sporting life with BBC Sport. Switching back and forth from his parents houses, visiting grandparents and cousins on the weekends, going bowling with his mom, and dreaming, not too unrealistically, of buying a Dodge Charger as his first car. From then on, Knighton was destined to be wearing spikes, rather than shoulder pads. "As I grow older I am going to get stronger and faster. That goal was accomplished on that fateful weekend in August. She could be facing an $18,000 USD fine and one year in jail. His training involves a lot of leg workouts, like cleans and squats. Erriyon Knighton represented his country in the Tokyo Olympics and brought home a bronze medal (Mens 200m). At the end of the day, they really just help me. It was his third straight national title, and fourth in five years, dating back to the 8-under class. Knighton, unable to compete locally because of lockdowns, took part in the nationwide Junior Olympics, just a couple of months after posting his latest football highlights video online. He also marked his personal-best record of 19.88 seconds in a heat that included world champion Noah Lyles, another Team USA athlete heading to the 200-meter final at Tokyo 2020. He would hit the weight room. "I only started running track in the ninth grade," Knighton remembered. Now everyone just walks past me just like, 'Hey, Erriyon'. In Tokyo, Knighton finished a close fourth after the Canadian gold medalist Andre de Grasse and his American teammates Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles. Erriyon hasnt disclosed his parents names to us, but his father was a basketball player in the past. Six times in the past year and three times over the weekend, he reset the under-18 world record in the 200, along with the world under-20 record held by three-time Olympic 200-meter gold medalist Usain Bolt. Go, Big Red Track & Field! Holloway told him, I dont want you to ever forget how you feel right now; and remember, you dont ever want to feel this way again.. In an exclusive interview with Hypebeast, Smith discussed the new documentary and reflected on his bond with the shoes that bear his name. He has done relatively little weight lifting yet to fill out his 164-pound frame. But when his coach asked him to join track in his freshman year, he committed. Erriyon Knighton, the 17-year-old high school junior and track phenom from Tampa who turned professional and signed with adidas after his sophomore year, outdid all of his prior mind-blowing performances on Monday night at the American Track League, blowing past the competition in the 200m to capture a new World U18 best of 20.11 (+1.6). When the track team started working out, he didnt participate and tried to avoid Sipp, saying football was his first love. Knighton was still weeks away from graduating high school when he ran half a lap around the track in 19.49 seconds, lowering his own world junior record once held by Usain Bolt, at the L.S.U. It was a blazing 200 meters by the entire group and a tight finish but Erriyon Knighton did ithe finished 3rd to make the Olympic team as a 17 year old. I wanted to be better than everyone else, he said. Monday, youre coming out to track practice. Why would he think otherwise? We were getting ready to go to our conference championship, and I remember him coming to me, like, Coach, Ive got to run against the Armwood (High School) and (Tampa Bay) Tech guys? Erriyon Knighton does not currently have a partner. Bromell, the years fastest at 9.88 in the 100m, finished second in 20.20, his best since 2015. It wasnt hurting me, I just kept running.. I was a little fast, he said, but I got faster.. He looks up, spots a hole in the onrushing defence and darts through, evading To see all of the 2020 AAU Junior Olympics results, click here. World indoor records from Hugues Fabrice Zango and Ryan Crouser, plus a handful of world U20 records set by teenage talents Sasha Zhoya and Erriyon Knighton in 2021, are among the latest marks to have been ratified. He also broke the Jamaican sprinting legend's under-20 200-meter world record set in 2004 less than a month later at the U.S. Olympic trials, USA Today Sports reported in late June. He just goes out, trusts the process. I think the betting would be that he could probably do it, he said. He followed the decision made by Tamari Davis, a then-16-year-old who also turned pro in January of 2020. Last night, he only had a 6-ounce steak, but he did have two foot-longs earlier in the day. He continued to play football through his junior season as a wide receiver and a safety who could squat 500 pounds and deadlift 450. Then, there he was, a year later, at the AAU Junior Olympics in Satellight Beach. Damian Warner Wife/Girlfriend Jennifer Cotten Are They Married? Knighton is marked, too, by an impressive self-belief for such a young athlete. CNW Network is South Floridas number one Caribbean news network that comprises of CaribbeanNationalWeekly.com, National Weekly newspaper and CNW TV. Knighton also made the Time 100 Next list announced Sept. 28, along with 17-year-old figure skater Ilia Malinin. Erriyon is more concerned with his work than with being involved in a meaningful relationship. Hailing from Tampa, Florida, the teenager entered his junior year at Tampa's Hillsborough High School in 2021, according to the high ' he said. He thinks hed like to study medicine, because he has family members that could help him out, like his mom, a nurse. He was just a receiver for the football team. It was how fast Knighton crossed the finish line at such a young age that was startling. If she asked him to put his toys away, he would do it running. It all started from there. People often ask whether he wants to be the next Usain Bolt. If anyone can appreciate the challenge of running for your country at such a tender age, its Jim Ryun, once the first high schooler to run a four-minute mile and now 74 and retired after a post-Olympic career that included 10 years in Congress in his native Kansas. At the US trials Knighton beat another Bolt milestone the Jamaicans best of 19.93 seconds before he turned 20 when he produced a stunning 19.84. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. In the 200-meter final on Wednesday, Canadian star Andre de Grasse took gold, and U.S. sprinters Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles won silver and bronze. He hasnt run a meet since the Junior Olympics, but he has more coming up in April. As a television camera reached him, he crouched on the track and smiled, but it was a smile of contemplating what might have been. Chilling, like Im a normal person.. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Already whitelisted us? Perhaps, Knighton matches Bolt using the same criteria that made the Jamaican great. He considers himself a good student; he gets all his work done. Some goes to his phone bill and some to his mom. Is this a Doctor Strange teaser, or a CGI error? The 12-year-old soon-to-be seventh-grader won his firstAAU discus national title on Wednesday by nearly 32 feet, throwing a personal-best 40.01 meters (131-03 feet). The conversation meandered from track and field to fast cars to the challenges of catching catfish. Florida teenager Erriyon Knighton toppled Usain Bolts 200m mark for athletes under 18 at an American Track League meet on Monday, while world champion Grant Holloway dominated a quality 110m hurdles field. We charge advertisers instead of our readers. World champion @LylesNoah is TOKYO-BOUND! He has so much untapped ability. Christian, 39, said his "playing weight" back in his prime was between 300 and 350 pounds on his 6-5 frame. meet. It's breaking us," his father joked. Erriyon Knighton reacts after placing third in the Mens 200 Meter Final during day ten of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June They told him they saw a lot of potential. Here is what we know. In his junior year now, Knighton practices with a personal coach four days a week. He leaves biomechanics to his coaches. A final defender comes haring across, all pumping thighs and straining arms. Hes a fun-loving kid to be around. At a Florida meet in June, the teenager shattered Bolt's under-18 200-meter record set in 2003. I think its safe to say his high school football career is over. The next day he ran the 100 in 10.29 seconds: a new U.S best time. Theres no ifs, ands or buts about it. Erriyon Knighton is an American Sprinter whose parents and family background are still a mystery. Instead, as school gridiron grew cold amid an enforced shutdown, a 16-year-old Knighton focused on his side hustle: track. A slender, rangy figure in home-team red gathers a kick return on his 10-yard line. Knighton, who aspires to go to medical school, started running his freshman year when his football coach said it could help make him faster as a wide receiver. According to NBC, he became the youngest male track athlete to reach the final of an individual Olympic race in 125 years. When Sipp asked Knighton to join the track team, Knighton thought his coach just wanted him to be a faster receiver. In other news, Police suspect the woman who caused Tour de France crash has fled to Germany. And, both Boys and Girls teams have been raising the bar, over the past two decades; winning multiple District and Regional championships, and producing Florida State and AAU National Champion track and field student athletes! He finished just off the podium in Wednesday's final. ' recalls Garcia, remembering that Ryun was working as a newspaper photographer. If you just go out and run like I know you can run, youll beat them. And he did, and he beat them. "It was nice," Jackson said. We would go out and run. If you want to get better, you haveto enjoy the training part too, as much as you like running, he said. Now hes running for the Olympics. Similarly, Erriyon Knighton is of American origin. "I've got to qualify for the heat so don't exert too much energy, really," he said, appearing relaxed and confident. The home team holler on the touchline as their man's easy, fluid stride eats up the field and carries him to the endzone. Hillsborough Highs Erriyon Knighton, just 17 years old, won his 200-meters semifinal in Tokyo. He remembers hearing people cheering, and that it helped. He watches a lot of film, studies his competitors. He saw it as training to bea quicker receiver, to be able sprint faster than the defense and to take off as soon as the football touched his hands. Even if you get mad at him, its hard to stay mad at him, because his personality is so fun-loving and he has such a big heart.. Invitational in Baton Rouge, La. How are people coping with having to make do with less? 2021 U.S Olympic Team Trials, 3rd (200-meter) 2020 Track & Field Junior Olympics, 1st (200-meter) He goes about his business the right way and takes this very seriously. Jackson was born just a few months before his dad claimed the silver medal in Beijing. At the Tokyo Games, Knighton, at 17, was the youngest American track Olympian since the renowned miler Jim Ryun in 1964. All Rights Reserved. Alabama still calls me: Coach, he can still play football and run pro track. Before he went to Eugene, he told the boys hed be back for practice Aug. 2. Obviously, hes an extremely talented young man, but the thing that separates him from the average 17-year-old is his poise, Holloway said. Knighton just smiles. Ran a wind-legal 20.33 200 at the AAU Junior Olympics in Aug. 2020 for a national record in his age group. Like really fast. Bromell, the years fastest at 9.88 in the 100m, finished second in 20.20, his best since 2015. He and another football teammate and friend of Sipps son, Joe Jr., moved in with the Sipp family, staying with them for seven months. Knighton doesnt love running, but he likes it. This week, his son's performancessoothed his soul. According to her, he was always running, even as a toddler. Part of my scholarship was sweeping up the locker room, and there was this guy in the whirlpool. He likes the weight training, but it hurts. "Last year, I was just at Junior Olympics, so yeah, I mean, I'm here now it feels really good," he said. That under-18 world record set by Bolt? After his freshman year, Knighton joined a summer track team. Knighton, on the other hand, is just 17 years old and is far too young to be involved in a love affair. The advantage of being tall, with long legs, allowed Knighton to take fewer strides than shorter sprinters, which delayed his late-race fatigue and permitted him to maintain greater velocity toward the finish line. Only Usain Bolt had ever gone faster at under-18 level. The first of the horror-thriller trilogy hits the streamer on July 2. Due to the Adidas contract, Knighton cant run for Hillsborough anymore. Worrying that there might be too many vacant slots in matches. Tokyo 2020 marks Knighton's first Olympic Games. The 17-year-old from Tampa, Fla., has made a dramatic rise in track, including knocking down an under-18 world record set by Jamaican track legend Usain Bolt in He said he didnt see track in his future until after the Junior Olympics, and his motivation for working so hard before that was pure pride. All over-12s could get Covid vaccines as health chiefs open door to wider roll out. It is just the start of a four-minute highlights reel,external-link posted in June 2020. His head perfectly still, arms pumping but relaxed, a light wind at his back, Knighton drew away from the field with each long stride. He knew he had run fast, but he did not yet know that his result was surpassed only by three of the greatest sprinters of all time Bolt of Jamaica, the three-time Olympic champion at 200 meters who holds the senior world record of 19.19 seconds; Yohan Blake of Jamaica, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist with a personal best of 19.26; and Michael Johnson of the United States, who won at the 1996 Olympics in 19.32. He tore away from the rest immediately, a blue sweat band around his head, long blue spandex shorts and tank top to match. I told him a long time ago: He has no idea what hes doing, he said. Erriyon Knighton on the track at Jesuit High School in Tampa, Fla. Knighton finished third during the final in the mens 200-meter run at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in June 2021 to qualify for the Olympic team. The Bolt He ultimately placed fourth in the blazing fast final on Wednesday, making a major statement at his first Olympics. 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