Erriyon Knighton isn’t old enough to toast his victories with champagne — or anything else. He can’t get a tattoo without a parent’s approval or vote or even fight for his country. But at the Tokyo Olympics he’ll run for it — and maybe even win for it.
The phenom from Florida introduced himself to track fans when he broke Usain Bolt’s under-18 and under-20 world records in the 200 meters. The 17-year-old will introduce himself to the rest of the world when he runs in Monday night’s heats in Tokyo, becoming the youngest track star for Team USA since 1964.
“I mean, I did good. I’m on a team at 17, so I can’t complain,” Knighton said after the U.S. Olympic trials. “It hasn’t sunk in. It’ll probably sink in [later]. But as of right now, I’m just happy. I feel like it’s a real big accomplishment.”
Make that an Olympic-sized one. In all likelihood, there will be many more.
After running a 20.11 earlier this season to break the under-18 mark set by Bolt in 2003, Knighton turned in a blistering 19.88 in the Olympic trials semifinals to shatter the under-20 world record owned by arguably track’s biggest star ever.
Knighton’s 19.84 encore in the final — in which he stormed back from fifth place (at best) coming off the turn to finish third — lowered his own U-20 record, and left him with the fourth-fastest time in the world this year. And it stamped him as the future of sprinting — possibly the not-too-distant future, depending on the next week.
Only two of the three men who have run faster that Knighton this season are in Tokyo, so he’s in prime position to earn an Olympic medal.
“It hasn’t hit reality yet. I feel like when I get there it will sink in. When I realize when I am there hopefully I will do good,” Knighton told ABC News, before amending that.
“I am going to do good.”
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There’s no reason to doubt it. He had never run a track meet until 2 ½ years ago, and will line up against the world’s best Monday despite not yet having started his senior year of high school.
Naturally there have been inevitable comparisons to Carl Lewis, a phenom in his schoolboy days at Willingboro (N.J.) High. And while the Bolt comparisons are unfair, Knighton doesn’t shy away from them. When asked last year if he’d liken his running style to anybody, he compared it to the triple world record-holder.
“Probably Usain Bolt,” Knighton told Florida Today, “just because he’s tall like me.”
And more and more, he’s running like Bolt.
Like Bolt, Lewis and other tall sprinters, the 6-foot-3 Knighton doesn’t always lead out of the blocks. But unlike so many tall sprinters without a low center of gravity, he excels on the turn. And when he unfurls his stride, he’s almost impossible to hold off.
Fred Kerley (who took silver in the 100 Sunday) and veteran Isiah Young (a 2012 Olympian) both found that out when Knighton overtook them in the Olympic trials 200 meters final for the third and last spot. And Noah Lyles learned it when he got caught from behind in the semifinals, and had to work to hold on and win the final.
“[Lyles] gave me a lot of advice,” said Knighton, just 0.10 seconds behind Lyles for the world lead. “He actually told me that I achieved the dream that he was had make the team in high school.”
Growing up Florida, it’s not shocking that Knighton was a football standout at Hillsborough High School in Tampa. Rated a four-star prospect by 247 Sports, he got offers from powerhouses such as Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State and Tennessee thanks to last year’s growth spurt and that blinding speed.
But earning his breakthrough Olympic season is proof he made the right call.
Since turning professional in January — shortly after his 17th birthday — Knighton has piled up wins and earned $200,000. That includes signing with Adidas that same month and being featured in their “Impossible Is Nothing” campaign in April.
“I know my potential,” Knighton wrote on Instagram. “I see the greatness in me everytime I see my reflection.”
The rest of the world may see that greatness over the next week.