Jun 29, 2021 - Sports

17-year-old Tampa sprinter Erriyon Knighton dashes into Tokyo Olympics

Ben Montgomery

Kenny Bednarek, Noah Lyles, and Erriyon Knighton pose on the podium after the men's 200-meter final. Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Erriyon Knighton, who turned 17 in January and turned pro as a junior at Hillsborough High School in Tampa, is set to become the youngest U.S. man to compete in track and field at the Olympics since Jim Ryun in 1964, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

What's new: Knighton finished third in the men’s 200-meter final at the U.S. Track and Field Trials in Oregon on Sunday night, earning a trip to Tokyo.

Knighton broke his own record with a time of 19.84 seconds, finishing just behind world champion Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek.
Knighton beat Lyles in the 200 heats and semifinals.

Flashback: We told you about Knighton back in February after he was profiled by Ben's daughter in HHS's Us Magazine — and was drawing comparisons to Usain Bolt. He's since broken Bolt's under-20 200-meter world record.

A Hillsborough High football coach saw Knighton's potential when he was a wide receiver and convinced him to join the track team to work on his speed.

Bonus: Trayvon Bromell, a former Gibbs High School standout from St. Petersburg, won the 100 meters with the second-fastest time in the world this year — 9.80 seconds — to earn a spot at the Tokyo Games.

The Olympics start July 23.

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17-year-old Tampa sprinter Erriyon Knighton dashes into Tokyo Olympics

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