"He had a good meet," Christian said. They won't be the only ones getting familiar with Knighton's fame over the next few years. 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. 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. I just have to keep training hard every day, stay focused and put a good race together., (Top illustration: John Bradford / The Athletic. He was just a receiver for the football team. As of today, Erriyon Kinghtons parents identities remain unknown to the general public. The teenager did not break Bolt's world record (19.19 seconds set in 2009) and Olympic record (19.30 seconds set in 2008). I am not the perfect 200m runner, I am still learning as I run it.". 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. During his personal training, Knighton practices wherever he has permission. A link that, via a search and scroll, leads to footage of an athlete who is neither on the track, nor professional. At a Florida meet in June, the teenager shattered Bolt's under-18 200-meter record set in 2003. The triple jumper from Burkina Faso bounded out to a Zango produced one of the first stand-out performances of 2021. It still hasnt hit me yet, the reality of it, Knighton said by phone Tuesday, awaiting a cross-country flight home from Seattle, with a dizzying few weeks ahead before hes off to compete in Japan. 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 After crushing Usain Bolts under-18 and under-20 200m records at this weekends Track & Field Olympic Team Trials, 17 year old Erriyon Knighton etched his name into athletics history to become the youngest American male to make be a part of the Olympic team since Jim Ryun in 1964. Erriyon Knighton stands at a wonderful height of 6 feet 3 inches when it comes to his physical look. When I used to run at Juniors, or youth, you don't have to run that fast. When I talk to him about a race plan, about his training, he trusts how hes being coached. Knighton added that compared with the Junior Olympics, he's finally getting some competition: "Well, the huge difference is you've got to run. Erriyon Knighton Men's 200m: Bronze Basic Information Gender: Male Born: 1/29/2004 Status: Active Residences Hometown: Tampa, FL High School: He remembers hearing people cheering, and that it helped. As a wide receiver, he reportedly received offers to play for college football powers Alabama, Florida and Florida State. Hypebeast is a registered trademark of Hypebeast Hong Kong Ltd. Gain access to exclusive interviews with industry creatives, think pieces, trend forecasts, guides and more. He likes the weight training, but it hurts. He knelt on the track. Theyre still calling me, longtime Hillsborough football head coach Earl Garcia said Monday. How are people coping with having to make do with less? The 6-foot-4, 206-pound native of Missouri the son offormer Team USA Olympians devoured his competition at this week's AAU National Junior Olympics Track & Field eventmuch like he manhandles those foot-long steak and cheese subshe often craves. 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. Knighton, who turned 17 in January, ran down Olympic 100m favorite Trayvon Bromell to win the 200m in 20.11, shaving 0.02 seconds off Bolts 2003 time. Stine Horror Film 'Fear Street Part One: 1994', Laurence Fishburne Says He Still Does Not Know Why 'Matrix 4' Excluded Him. His coach marveled at the finesse and elasticity of Knightons stride. He watches a lot of film, studies his competitors. 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. WebTwo-sport athlete in football and track. He is back in school, walking the corridors of Hillsborough High School in Tampa, Florida, brushing shoulders with current class-mates and former football team-mates. With latest scores and headlines sent straight to your device, personalisation and much more, ensure you have a great sporting life with BBC Sport. Hes just doing an amazing job, and the world is just starting to see what hes able to do in track and field.. I wanted to be better than everyone else, he said. For that, Knighton will have to refine his start and gain the strength to stand up taller as he runs, raising his hips to get full leg extension. 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. His training is low volume. "Perfectly safe. This guy was in a different league. He could no longer compete for his school. "It was nice," Jackson said. News from Hillsborough High School in Tampa, Fla. More:AAU Junior Olympics on Space Coast crowns its first champions. Then, there he was, a year later, at the AAU Junior Olympics in Satellight Beach. During the opening day of the discus competition, Jackson was on target to set a national record in that event as well. It took a month to decide. Erriyon Knighton Family, Parents, Net Worth, Wife, Biography, Ethnicity. Terry has to call his name to break the reverie. Similarly, Erriyon Knighton is of American origin. At 18, Knighton has not yet peeked closely under the hood of his internal engine as he has under the hood of the $80,000 Dodge Hellcat he would like to buy. He continued to break his own under-18 record, running a 20.31 in Clermont in April, then a 20.30 in California in May. The first person to see his potential was Coach Joseph Sipp, the head track coach and a football coach. Garcia said when Hillsborough was preparing for an opponent with an athletic quarterback, Knighton would volunteer to simulate him on the scout team. After that race, he gestured to "Knighton" on his bib, as if to say, "Remember this name.". 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 2003. Knighton is up for the Mens Rising Star Award along with French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati, Jamaican triple jumper Jaydon Hibbert, Botswanan sprinter Letsile Tebogo and Kenyan 800m runner Emmanuel Wanyonyi. When the track team started working out, he didnt participate and tried to avoid Sipp, saying football was his first love. I really try not to get caught up in the pressure. It wasnt long after that Knighton got a call from Adidas. This spring, Knighton improved his 200 personal best to 19.49 and his 100 to 10.04. title at Baylor University. I think its remarkable, Ryun said. Im like, Man, youre way faster than those guys. 20.33 seconds is a short amount of time to change somebodys life. Only Usain Bolt had ever gone faster at under-18 level. According to her, he was always running, even as a toddler. Despite his sudden rise on the track, Knighton was approached by an array of first division schools to play football, but with a number of wins already under his belt and a growing athletics portfolio, Knighton stuck to the track to mark the start of whats expected to be an exciting career. hide caption. Knighton is still learning off the track as well. Well, practically, anyway. Hubris fed by hype. Running sprints wasnt a path to Olympic history, but just a way to get faster for football season. Congratulations Erriyon. US sprinter Erriyon Knighton ( Getty Images) World U20 records* were broken in mens sprint events in two different continents just five hours apart on Saturday (30) as Botswanas Letsile Tebogo ran 9.96 for 100m in Gaborone and Erriyon Knighton clocked 19.49 for 200m in Baton Rouge. The conversation meandered from track and field to fast cars to the challenges of catching catfish. It's breaking us," his father joked. Click the icon of the ad-blocker extension installed on your browser. 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. Erriyon Knighton, a 17-year-old whose 19.88 in the semifinals broke Bolts under-20 record, took third with a time of 19.84. He also won a bronze medal at that distance at the 2015 world track championships. Knighton was outstanding in his first major competition in Tokyo, where he just missed the Olympic podium and became the youngest teen since Jim Ryun in 1964 to represent the United States. "I only started running track in the ninth grade," Knighton remembered. He trusts Coach (Terry) with his life, and thats big. He hits halfway at a gallop. Running in 200m against other 16-year-olds, he stormed home in 20.33 seconds. Erriyon Knighton: The Sprinter HHS Today He was just a receiver for the football team. He presently owns the world under-18 and world under-20 marks in the 200 meters with a run of 19.84 seconds recorded on June 27, 2021, in the US Olympic Trials. 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. When it turns gray, click the refresh icon that has appeared next to it or click the button below to continue. While hopes remain high for the rising Olympic star's sprinting career, Knighton's athletic roots were in football. He has currently amassed 26.6k followers and has posted only 4 posts as of now. Sipp said Knighton wasnt expecting much of himself. Hes fearless, and that factors into how hard he trains. At the time when the Jamaican sprinter set the record, he was 16-years-old. Embedded in the community for over 20 years, we have established ourselves as Floridas primary access to the Caribbean community. Erriyon hasnt disclosed his parents names to us, but his father was a basketball player in the past. Joe Sipp remembers first seeing Knighton the summer before his freshman year at Hillsborough, when he attended a conditioning workout for football players. Christian lost a chance at a second medal by just a centimeter. When Sipp asked Knighton to join the track team, Knighton thought his coach just wanted him to be a faster receiver. There were murmurs that it was too much, too soon. Invitational in Baton Rouge, La. Lyles won the final Sunday night, and Kenny Bednarek, 22, took second, but Knighton came through in third place in 19.84 seconds, becoming the first teenager to make the U.S. Olympic mens track team since 2000. That includes sponsorship from adidas, who added the athlete to their roster in January for an undisclosed amount. Hes Getting Faster. Ryun is pleased to see yet another 17-year-old able to represent his country as Knighton prepares for his own shot at Olympic glory. Its crazy. To see what hes done was something I wasnt surprised by, but something that amazed the world.. He considers himself a good student; he gets all his work done. That is, how adroitly he absorbed the energy of landing with a peak force of about five times his body weight and sprang his body and feet back into the air quickly. He finished just off the podium in Wednesday's final. Erriyon Knighton became the fourth-fastest man over 200m as he clocked 19.49 seconds at the LSU Invitational. Go, Big Red Track & Field! Erriyon Knighton competing in round one of the men's 200-meter heats on August 3, 2021 at Tokyo 2020. That goal was accomplished on that fateful weekend in August. A slender, rangy figure in home-team red gathers a kick return on his 10-yard line. "He was warning up at 140. Earlier this week, Knighton won his first heat and said that he eased up after the first half of that sprint. With comparisons to retired Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolttwo of whose 200-meter youth records were broken by Knightonthe pressure will be there for the teenage Florida native at Wednesday's final. Only three Americans of any age - Noah Lyles, Kenny Bednarek and Josephus Lyles - went faster that year. https://www.hhstoday.com/life/2021/02/25/erriyon-knighton-the-sprinter/#comment-89567. When Ryun made the Olympic team in 1964, he didnt get back home before competing, going from the trials at the Coliseum in Los Angeles to training there and flying to Tokyo. 2023 www.floridatoday.com. Required fields are marked *, John Walker Jul 28, 2021 at 2:49 pm. U.S. sprinter Erriyon Knighton wins his qualifying heat of the men's 200-meter earlier this week. From then on, Knighton was destined to be wearing spikes, rather than shoulder pads. 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. A Florida meet in June, the teenager shattered Bolt 's under-18 200-meter set... That event as well 's 200-meter heats on August 3, 2021 at 2:49.... Set in 2003 in football competition, Jackson was on target to set a national in. 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