American Teenager Erriyon Knighton Breaks Usain Bolt's 18-Year Record

Erriyon Knighton, remember the name.

The 17-year-old has carved his name into the sprinting history books after breaking Usain Bolt's Under 18s 200m record.

Competing at the Duval County Challenge Track League in Jacksonville, Florida, Knighton came from behind and blitzed the race to finish with an impressive time of 20.11 seconds.

Incredibly, this time was actually 0.02 seconds quicker than eight-time Olympic gold medallist Bolt's time which he recorded back in 2003 - an 18-year record until Knighton entered the picture.

Oh, and it wasn't a wind-assisted run either which makes Knighton's feat even more special.

Instagram/@erriyon

"I've definitely got to respect them, top of the world," the teenager said.

"But I feel like I brought my A game today."

When comparing Knighton to his fellow countrymen, you can see why there's so much hype surrounding him.

His most recent race means he officially boasts the seventh-fastest overall time for the 200m by an American sprinter, which has qualified him for the Olympic trials later this month.

If Knighton is selected, it would make him the youngest male athlete to make the United States' track and field team since the 1964 Olympic Games in - you guessed it - Tokyo.

According to multiple reports, Knighton only started specialising in track events in the past two years.

Since then, he has singlehandedly shattered records in every age group he has competed in.

And in just a short space of time he has managed to prove just how naturally talented he, so much so that he has turned professional at the age of 17.

It turns out Knighton's not a bad 100m sprinter either, clocking a time of under 10 seconds in recent events - albeit wind-assisted.

Topics: olympics, Tokyo Olympics, Australia, Usain Bolt

Max Sherry

Max Sherry is a journalist for SPORTbible Australia. After migrating Down Under from London as a teenager, he instantly fell in love with Aussie sport and its culture. From NRL to AFL, cricket to rugby — you name it, Max watches it (with a beer in hand, of course). During his time at Fox Sports, he worked in the football department covering the Premier League, A-League, Socceroos and Matildas. Born a stone's throw away from West Ham's training ground, Max is obviously a die-hard Liverpool fan.

@maxysherry