Teen machine smashes 18-year-old Usain Bolt record

A 17-year-old specimen that simply can’t be human has stunned the world to topple Usain Bolt’s freakish 18-year-old record.

Erriyon Knighton simply can’t be human.

The 17-year-old American has just toppled one of Usain Bolt’s oldest records — and it is only the start.

The high school student is going to be something special. It’s why he turned professional earlier this year, and it’s why apparel giant Adidas snapped him up with a rich deal before he’d even turned 17.

His record run at an American Track League meet this week has shown why there is so much buzz about the Tampa Hillsborough High School phenom.

Knighton was under the radar in the final of the 200m event when lining up from lane 3 against Olympic gold-medal favourite Trayvon Bromell. He was an irrelevant runner as they made the turn onto the straight with all eyes on Bromell and the clock.

But that’s when Knighton exploded from out of nowhere to chase down the leaders and hit the finish line with an official time of 20.11 seconds, besting Olympic legend Bolt’s previous world record of 20.13 seconds for Under-18 competitors.

Bolt set the record in 2003, but it has finally fallen.

Bromell is the fastest man on the planet this year with a run of 9.88 seconds in the 100m, but he had to play second fiddle to Knighton after crossing the line with a time of 20.20 in the 200m.

Knighton’s time follows his trajectory of smashing records in every age group he has competed in. He was the fastest junior on the planet in the 200m event at last year’s AAU Junior Olympic Games.

His time of 20.33 was officially the 11th fastest 200m run for all age groups last year, with competitions heavily limited as a result of Covid-19.

This year, he has the seventh-fastest overall time by an American athlete. It means he has qualified to compete in this month’s American Olympic trials.

Erriyon Knighton is going to be scary.

If he pulls off the impossible and makes the team, he would become the youngest American male to make the American track and field team since 1964.

It’s why he has so much respect for the senior runners in the American track scene.

“I’ve definitely got to respect them, top of the world,” Knighton said. “But I feel like I brought my A game today.”

He also has a time of less than 10 seconds for the 100m sprint — but this was a wind-assisted run.

Most incredibly, Knighton is reported to have only started specialising in track running in the past two years. The former high school footballer, who played at wide receiver for his school, was only pushed into athletics when his coach told him to give it a shot.

Three years later he is emerging as one of the most incredible stories in track and field.