Knighton showed that something very special was already brewing last year when at the age of 17 Usain Bolt set the junior world record in the 200m and became No. 4 at the Olympics.
On Saturday, the 18-year-old struck again, when he ran at 19.49 in the 200 meters during a competition in the United States. This makes him the fourth fastest man in distance through the ages.
The time also broke Bolt’s Under-20 record (set in 2004, the same year Knighton was born) of 19.93. Knighton’s time is also three-tenths behind Bolt’s “unbeatable” world record (19.19) from the 2009 World Cup Final.
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Crazy achievement
The incredible achievements of the 18-year-old were noticed all over the world, and in Norway, the Norwegian sprinter Even Minseth really admired the American.
A very insane achievement! Driving from start to finish. The last 100 meters in particular are very good, he told Nettavizen of Knighton’s last sprint, the fastest 200 meters since the Olympic final in 2012.
Like most others, Menseth draws parallels with Bolt when he talks about Knighton. In the aftermath of Saturday’s race, many compared the times of Knighton and Bolt at the same age.
As an 18-year-old, Knighton is already running half a second faster than Bolt did when he was 18, and shows a profile of athletics coach BJ Vasell on Twitter.
The 18-year-old Bolt set 19.99 as his best record. When he was 20 years old, Bolt had “only” 19.75 as his best time of the 200 metres.
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He thinks Bolt should take care
Minseth, who is Norway’s fastest man, thinks it’s only natural that we’re already thinking about Bolt’s world record for Knighton. He thinks the Jamaican has something to fear.
– If he continues to develop, he will take the world record from Bolt. I think he can really challenge it this year, says Minseth.
The Norwegian runner still notes that it will be far from easy.
He has to run three tenths faster. It doesn’t look like much, but it’s in a sprint. But he’s at least way ahead of what Bolt did when he was 18.
The highlight of Knighton this season will be the IAAF World Championships in Eugene between July 15 and July 24.
note! Knighton isn’t the only one who started the sprint season in an impressive fashion. Letsile Tebogo (18) recently set a new junior record of 100m (9.96).
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