HS senior Erriyon Knighton becomes 4th-fastest 200m runner in history

Erriyon Knighton gained notoriety in 2021 as he broke Usain Bolt’s teenage U20 200m record and competed in the Olympics at the age of 17, the youngest male U.S. track athlete to do so in 57 years.

On April 30, Knighton broke the U20 record once again. With a scorching time of 19.49, Knighton became the fourth-fastest runner in the world, according to the NBC Olympics Twitter account. Only three runners have eclipsed that time.

NBC added that Knighton’s time is the fastest anyone has run the 200-meter since the 2012 Olympics.

Here is a video of Knighton running in the LSU Invitational in Baton Rouge. Running in lane five, he took a giant lead around the bend and was not seriously challenged after.

Remember the name: Erriyon Knighton

18-year-old clocked @ErriyonK 19.49 seconds to break his own U20 record in the 200m and became the fourth-fastest man in HISTORY.

It is the world’s fastest time since the 2012 Olympics. (via @LSUTrackField) pic.twitter.com/wVyoirsCNQ

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) May 2, 2022

The only three people to have beaten Knighton’s time of 19.49 seconds are Bolt, who has done it four times and set the record of 19.19, Yohan Blake (19.26 seconds in 2011) and Michael Johnson (19.32 seconds in 1996), according to NBC Sports.

From here? Knighton returns to class. The night of the LSU Invitational was four weeks out from his high school graduation, NBC Sports wrote.