Erriyon Knighton

American sprinter

  • 100 m: 10.04 (Gainesville 2022)
  • 200 m: 19.49 AJR (Baton Rouge 2022)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing the  United States
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2023 Budapest 200 m
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Eugene 200 m

Erriyon Knighton (born January 29, 2004)[4] is an American sprinter specializing in the 100 meters and 200 meters. At the age of 18, he won the bronze medal in the 200 m at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, becoming the youngest ever individual sprint medalist in Championships history. He is the 2023 U.S. Champion in the 200 meters.

Knighton holds the world under-18 best in the 200 m of 19.84 seconds, set on June 27, 2021, and world U20 record with a time of 19.69 seconds, set on June 26, 2022. His best mark of 19.49 s (not ratified) makes him the fifth-fastest athlete in history over the distance, only surpassed by Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Noah Lyles and Michael Johnson.[3] It was also the fastest season opener ever.

In 2022, Knighton became the first athlete in history to win a second World Athletics Male Rising Star of the Year award.[5]

Career

Junior career

Erriyon Knighton started participating in track and field in 2019 as a freshman at Hillsborough High School in Tampa, Florida. During his time there, he ran the second fastest time over 200 meters for an under-18 athlete in world history, clocking 20.33 seconds in the final at the 2020 USA Track & Field Junior Olympics in Satellite Beach, Florida.[2] He also played for Hillsborough's football team as a wide receiver; rated a four-star recruit by 247Sports.com, he received scholarship offers from schools including Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, and Florida.[6][7]

2021

At age 16 in January, Knighton signed a sponsorship deal with Adidas in his junior year of high school, forgoing his remaining two years of amateur competition at Hillsborough High.[2] On May 2, he broke the 10-second barrier over 100 meters at the PURE Athletics Sprint Elite Meet in Clermont, Florida, with a time of 9.99 seconds, but the wind was over the +2.0 meters per second velocity limit (+2.7) for record consideration.[8]

On May 31, the 17-year-old set the world under-18 best in the boys' 200 meters in a time of 20.11 seconds, breaking Usain Bolt's best by two hundredths of a second.[9][10] At the US Olympic Trials he would improve that time to 20.04 s in the first round on June 25, and then again to 19.88 s in the semi-finals the following day, breaking Bolt's world U20 record by five hundredths of a second. He then improved his own record to 19.84 seconds in the final on June 27, qualifying for the postponed 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

At the Tokyo Games, Knighton became the youngest male to represent the United States in track and field since Jim Ryun in 1964.[11] On August 3, he finished first in his 200-meter Olympic semi-final heat and qualified for an automatic spot in the final to be run the next day.[12] In the final he finished in fourth with a time of 19.93 seconds.[11]

2022

On April 30, Knighton set an unratified world junior record in the 200 m at the LSU Invitational in Baton Rouge running a time of 19.49 seconds.[13] He achieved 19.69 s at the USA Outdoor T&F Championships in June. Knighton later on went on to place third in the event at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, in Eugene, USA, becoming the youngest ever individual sprint medalist in Championship history.[14][15] He also became the youngest winner of a Diamond League race with his 200 m victory on September 2 in Brussels.[16]

Achievements

Information from World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.

Personal bests

Distance Time (s) Wind Location Date Notes
100 meters 10.04 -0.1 m/s Gainesville, FL, U.S. April 16, 2022
9.98 w +2.1 m/s Gainesville, FL, U.S. April 1, 2023 Wind-assisted
150 meters 14.85 +1.4 m/s Atlanta, GA, U.S. May 6, 2023
200 meters 19.49 +1.4 m/s Baton Rouge, LA, U.S. April 30, 2022 AU20R
200 meters (i)[17] 20.21 - Arena Stade Couvert, Liévin (FRA) February 10, 2024
Youth and junior achievements
200 meters 19.84 +0.3 m/s Eugene, OR, U.S. June 27, 2021 World under-18 best
19.69 -0.3 m/s Eugene, OR, U.S. June 26, 2022 World under-20 record


International competitions

Representing the  United States
Year Competition Venue Position Event Time Notes
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 4th 200 m 19.93
2022 World Championships Eugene, OR, United States 3rd 200 m 19.80
2023 World Championships Budapest, Hungary 2nd 200 m 19.75

Circuit wins

National championships

Year Competition Venue Position Event Time Wind (m/s) Notes
2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Eugene, Oregon 3rd 200 m 19.84 +0.3 WU18B
2022 USATF Championships Eugene, Oregon 2nd 200 m 19.69 −0.3 WU20R
2023 USATF Championships Eugene, Oregon 1st 200 m 19.72 −0.1 SB


References

  1. ^ a b "Erriyon Knighton". teamusa.org. USOC. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Hollobaugh, Jeff (February 2021). "Teen Sprint Sensation Erriyon Knighton Goes Pro". Track & Field News. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "200 Metres - men - senior - outdoor". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  4. ^ "ATHLETE PROFILE Erriyon KNIGHTON". World Athletics. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  5. ^ Mulkeen, Jon (December 12, 2022). "After historic second Rising Star award, there's no stopping Knighton". World Athletics. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  6. ^ Auman, Greg (June 30, 2021). "Meet Erriyon Knighton, the 17-year-old U.S. sprinter who broke a Usain Bolt record and is aiming for Olympic history". The Athletic. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  7. ^ Schad, Tom (June 28, 2021). "Meet Erriyon Knighton, the 17-year-old who broke Usain Bolt's record and is now an Olympian". USA Today. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  8. ^ Mull, Cory (May 2, 2021). "Erriyon Knighton, 17, Drops Insane 9.99 For 100 Meters". MileSplit. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  9. ^ Zaccardi, Nick (June 1, 2021). "Erriyon Knighton, 17-year-old pro sprinter, breaks Usain Bolt junior record". NBC Sports. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  10. ^ Mulkeen, Jon (June 1, 2021). "Knighton breaks Bolt’s world U18 200m best with 20.11 in Jacksonville". World Athletics. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Tampa sprinter Erriyon Knighton places 4th in Olympic 200m final". 10 Tampa Bay. August 4, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  12. ^ "Tokyo Olympics: Tampa teen Erriyon Knighton wins semi-final heat, moves onto 200-meter finals". Fox13 News. August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  13. ^ Conrad, Roy. "LSU Invitational — Knighton's Shocking 19.49". Track & Field News. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  14. ^ McAlister, Sean (August 24, 2022). "Erriyon Knighton: Graduating to greatness". Olympics.com. IOC.
  15. ^ "Spotlight on Rising Stars: Mine De Klerk and Erriyon Knighton". World Athletics. November 9, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  16. ^ OlympicTalk (September 2, 2022). "Erriyon Knighton bounces back, American records fall: Brussels Diamond League recap, results, highlights". OlympicTalk | NBC Sports. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  17. ^ "Erriyon KNIGHTON | Profile | World Athletics". worldathletics.org. Retrieved February 19, 2024.

External links

Records
Preceded by Boys' World Under-18 Best Holder, 200 meters
31 May 2021 – present 		Incumbent
Men's World Under-20 Record Holder, 200 meters
26 June 2021 – present 		Incumbent
  • v
  • t
  • e
1876–1878
New York Athletic Club
  • 1876: Not held
  • 1877: Edward Merritt
  • 1878: Wm. Willmer
1879–1888
NAAAA
1888–1979
Amateur Athletic Union
1980–1992
The Athletics Congress
1993–onwards
USA Track & Field
Notes
  • Note 1: In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships
  • OT: The 1920, 1928, 1932, and since 1992, championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event.
  • 2020 OT: The 2020 Olympic Trials were delayed and held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • *USA: Leading American athlete
  • v
  • t
  • e
2020 USA Olympic track and field team
Qualification
2020 United States Olympic trials (track and field)
Men's track
and road athletes
Men's
field athletes
Women's track
and road athletes
Women's
field athletes
Coaches
  • Robyne Johnson (women's assistant coach)
  • Gary Aldrich (men's assistant coach)
  • Nat Page (men's assistant coach)
  • Stanley Redwine (men's assistant coach)
  • Sandra Fowler (women's assistant coach)
  • Michael Holloway (men's head coach)
  • LaTanya Sheffield (women's assistant coach)
  • Rose Monday (women's head coach)
  • Darryl Woodson (men's assistant coach)
  • Marsha Seagrave (Women's Head Manager)
  • Tim Weaver (Men's Head Manager)
  • Megan Watson (women's assistant coach)
  • Manny Bautista Event Manager
  • Danielle Siebert Event Manager
  • v
  • t
  • e
Authority control databases: People Edit this at Wikidata
  • World Athletics