Erriyon Knighton (born January 29, 2004)[4] is an American sprinter specializing in the 100 meters and 200 meters. At the age of 18, he won the bronze medal in the 200 m at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, becoming the youngest ever individual sprint medalist in Championships history. He is the 2023 U.S. Champion in the 200 meters and the 2023 World Championships silver medalist.
 Knighton (center) at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | January 29, 2004[1] Jesup, Georgia, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[1][2] | |||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 170 lb (77 kg)[2] | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  United States | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Track and field | |||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 100 meters, 200 meters | |||||||||||||||||
| Club | My Brother's Keeper Track Club[2] | |||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Jonathan Terry[2] and Mike Holloway[3] | |||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal bests |
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Medal record
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Knighton holds the world under-18 best in the 200 m of 19.84 seconds, set on June 27, 2021, and world U20 record with a time of 19.69 seconds, set on June 26, 2022. His best mark of 19.49 s (not ratified[5]) makes him the sixth-fastest athlete in history over the distance, only surpassed by Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Noah Lyles, Michael Johnson and Letsile Tebogo.[3] It was also the fastest season opener ever.
In 2022, Knighton became the first athlete in history to win a second World Athletics Male Rising Star of the Year award.[6]
Career
editJunior career
editErriyon Knighton started participating in track and field in 2019 as a freshman at Hillsborough High School in Tampa, Florida. During his time there, he ran the second fastest time over 200 meters for an under-18 athlete in world history, clocking 20.33 seconds in the final at the 2020 USA Track & Field Junior Olympics in Satellite Beach, Florida.[2] He also played for Hillsborough's football team as a wide receiver; rated a four-star recruit by 247Sports.com, he received scholarship offers from schools including Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, and Florida.[7][8]
2021
editAt age 16 in January, Knighton signed a sponsorship deal with Adidas in his junior year of high school, forgoing his remaining two years of amateur competition at Hillsborough High.[2] On May 2, he broke the 10-second barrier over 100 meters at the PURE Athletics Sprint Elite Meet in Clermont, Florida, with a time of 9.99 seconds, but the wind was over the +2.0 meters per second velocity limit (+2.7) for record consideration.[9]
On May 31, the 17-year-old set the world under-18 best in the boys' 200 meters in a time of 20.11 seconds, breaking Usain Bolt's best by two hundredths of a second.[10][11] At the US Olympic Trials he would improve that time to 20.04 s in the first round on June 25, and then again to 19.88 s in the semi-finals the following day, breaking Bolt's world U20 record by five hundredths of a second. He then improved his own record to 19.84 seconds in the final on June 27, qualifying for the postponed 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
At the Tokyo Games, Knighton became the youngest male to represent the United States in track and field since Jim Ryun in 1964.[12] On August 3, he finished first in his 200-meter Olympic semi-final heat and qualified for an automatic spot in the final to be run the next day.[13] In the final he finished in fourth with a time of 19.93 seconds.[12]
2022
editOn April 30, Knighton set an unratified world junior record in the 200 m at the LSU Invitational in Baton Rouge running a time of 19.49 seconds.[14] He achieved 19.69 s at the USA Outdoor T&F Championships in June. Knighton later on went on to place third in the event at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, in Eugene, USA, becoming the youngest ever individual sprint medalist in Championship history.[15][16] He also became the youngest winner of a Diamond League race with his 200 m victory on September 2 in Brussels.[17]
2023
editOn July 9, 2023, in Eugene during the USA Outdoor T&F Championships, he won his first senior national title by triumphing in the 200 meters with a time of 19.72 seconds.[18]
At the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August, Erriyon Knighton once again stood on a world podium by finishing second in the 200 m final with a time of 19.75 seconds. He was once again beaten by Noah Lyles, who won comfortably with a time of 19.52 seconds.[19]
At the end of the season in September, he finished third in the 200 m final of the Diamond League in Eugene with a time of 19.97 seconds.[20]
Erriyon closed his last season as a junior with 18 times under 20 seconds in the 200 meters, with his top 10 times occupying the 10 best U20 performances of all time in the 200 meters.
2024
editTo kick off the season, he competed for the first time in a 200m indoor race in Liévin, France, where he won in a time of 20.21 seconds.[21]
On March 26, Knighton was provisionally suspended by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after testing positive for a metabolite of the anabolic steroid trenbolone (category S1 on the banned list, substance not specified). This suspension jeopardized his participation in the US Olympic trials. However, following a lengthy investigation, USADA cleared him in June after concluding that the positive result was due to the consumption of trenbolone-contaminated meat, thus allowing him to take part in the US trials.[22][23]
At the US Olympic trials, he placed third in the 200 m with a time of 19.77 seconds, qualifying for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.[24]
During the Paris Olympic Games, Knighton easily won his heat with a time of 19.99, the second-best time in the heats. In the semi-final, he came out on top in 20.09, after a close battle with Zimbabwean Tapiwanashe Makarawu and Liberian Joseph Fahnbulleh, despite a setback a few meters from the finish. [25] In the final, the American crossed the line in 19.99 seconds, failing to make the podium behind Botswana's Letsile Tebogo and his two compatriots Kenneth Bednarek and Noah Lyles.[26][27]
The week after the Olympics ended, the Athletics Integrity Unit launched an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against United States Anti-Doping Agency's decision regarding Knighton's positive drugs test.[28][29]
Achievements
editInformation from World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.
Personal bests
edit| Distance | Time (s) | Wind | Location | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 meters | 10.04 | -0.1 m/s | Gainesville, FL, U.S. | April 16, 2022 | |
| 9.98 w | +2.1 m/s | Gainesville, FL, U.S. | April 1, 2023 | Wind-assisted | |
| 150 meters | 14.85 | +1.4 m/s | Atlanta, GA, U.S. | May 6, 2023 | |
| 200 meters | 19.49 | +1.4 m/s | Baton Rouge, LA, U.S. | April 30, 2022 | AU20R |
| 200 meters (i)[30] | 20.21 | - | Arena Stade Couvert, Liévin (FRA) | February 10, 2024 | |
| 400 meters | 46.15 | - | Gainesville, FL, U.S. | April 15, 2023 | |
| Youth and junior achievements | |||||
| 200 meters | 19.84 | +0.3 m/s | Eugene, OR, U.S. | June 27, 2021 | World under-18 best |
| 19.69 | -0.3 m/s | Eugene, OR, U.S. | June 26, 2022 | World under-20 record | |
International competitions
edit| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 4th | 200 m | 19.93 | |
| 2022 | World Championships | Eugene, OR, United States | 3rd | 200 m | 19.80 | |
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 2nd | 200 m | 19.75 | |
| 2024 | Olympic Games | Paris, France | 4th | 200 m | 19.99 |
Circuit wins
edit- Diamond League
- 2022 (200 m): Brussels Memorial Van Damme
- 2023 (200 m): Golden Gala (Florence), Bislett Games
- World Athletics Continental Tour
- 2022 (200 m): Gyulai István Memorial
- 2023 (200 m): Irena Szewinska Memorial
- 2024 (200 m): Zagreb Hanžeković Memorial
National championships
edit| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Time | Wind (m/s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | U.S. Olympic Trials | Eugene, Oregon | 3rd | 200 m | 19.84 | +0.3 | WU18B |
| 2022 | USATF Championships | Eugene, Oregon | 2nd | 200 m | 19.69 | −0.3 | WU20R |
| 2023 | USATF Championships | Eugene, Oregon | 1st | 200 m | 19.72 | −0.1 | SB |
| 2024 | U.S. Olympic Trials | Eugene, Oregon | 3rd | 200 m | 19.77 | +0.5 | SB |
Awards
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Erriyon Knighton". teamusa.org. USOC. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Hollobaugh, Jeff (February 2021). "Teen Sprint Sensation Erriyon Knighton Goes Pro". Track & Field News. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
- ^ a b "200 Metres - men - senior - outdoor". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
- ^ "ATHLETE PROFILE Erriyon KNIGHTON". World Athletics. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ "Ratified: world records for Yehualaw, Knighton, Nugent and Mokoka". World Athletics. December 22, 2023. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
Knighton had opened his season with a time of 19.49 in Baton Rouge, but that mark could not be ratified as a world U20 record because specific anti-doping testing requirements were not met.
- ^ Mulkeen, Jon (December 12, 2022). "After historic second Rising Star award, there's no stopping Knighton". World Athletics. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ Auman, Greg (June 30, 2021). "Meet Erriyon Knighton, the 17-year-old U.S. sprinter who broke a Usain Bolt record and is aiming for Olympic history". The Athletic. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
- ^ Schad, Tom (June 28, 2021). "Meet Erriyon Knighton, the 17-year-old who broke Usain Bolt's record and is now an Olympian". USA Today. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
- ^ Mull, Cory (May 2, 2021). "Erriyon Knighton, 17, Drops Insane 9.99 For 100 Meters". MileSplit. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
- ^ Zaccardi, Nick (June 1, 2021). "Erriyon Knighton, 17-year-old pro sprinter, breaks Usain Bolt junior record". NBC Sports. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
- ^ Mulkeen, Jon (June 1, 2021). "Knighton breaks Bolt’s world U18 200m best with 20.11 in Jacksonville". World Athletics. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
- ^ a b "Tampa sprinter Erriyon Knighton places 4th in Olympic 200m final". 10 Tampa Bay. August 4, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
- ^ "Tokyo Olympics: Tampa teen Erriyon Knighton wins semi-final heat, moves onto 200-meter finals". Fox13 News. August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
- ^ Conrad, Roy. "LSU Invitational — Knighton's Shocking 19.49". Track & Field News. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
- ^ McAlister, Sean (August 24, 2022). "Erriyon Knighton: Graduating to greatness". Olympics.com. IOC.
- ^ "Spotlight on Rising Stars: Mine De Klerk and Erriyon Knighton". World Athletics. November 9, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
- ^ OlympicTalk (September 2, 2022). "Erriyon Knighton bounces back, American records fall: Brussels Diamond League recap, results, highlights". OlympicTalk | NBC Sports. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
- ^ Olympic (July 10, 2023). "USA Track and Field Championships 2023: Erriyon Knighton bags national title in 200m with U20 world record". Olympic.com.
- ^ "World Athletics Championships 2023: Noah Lyles completes sprint double at track worlds, retains 200m title; Erriyon Knighton second". olympics.com. August 25, 2023. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
- ^ "Diamond League Final in Eugene 2023: Andre De Grasse surges to 200m title from Kenny Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton". Olympic Channel. September 17, 2023. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
- ^ "2024 Liévin: Girma & Tsegay Come Just Shy of WRs as Holloway, Knighton, Bol Earn Big Wins". Let's Run. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
- ^ "Sprinter Knighton cleared for Games after failed test". Olympic Channel. June 19, 2024.
- ^ "Olympic sprinter Knighton allowed to run at US trials after contamination case". APNews. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
- ^ "Noah Lyles Breaks the Olympic Trials Record in the 200 Meters". Runner's World. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
- ^ "Botswana's Letsile Tebogo sounds off warning call with win over Noah Lyles in 200m semis; defending champion Andre De Grasse out". olympics.com. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
- ^ "Tampa's Erriyon Knighton places 4th in 200 meters, Noah Lyles gets 3rd". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
- ^ "Erriyon Knighton Raises Eyebrows By Skipping Media Interaction After 200m Final Amid Doping Controversy At Paris Olympics 2024". ABP Live. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
- ^ "Appeal after USA's Knighton cleared to run at Olympics". BBC Sport. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
- ^ "Cleared U.S. sprinter Knighton's contamination case appealed". ESPN. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
- ^ "Erriyon KNIGHTON | Profile | World Athletics". worldathletics.org. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
- ^ a b "World Athlete of the Year Awards: Know all winners - the complete list". Olympics. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
- ^ "Rising Stars winners Athing Mu and Erriyon Knighton show future of athletics is in great hands". RunBlogRun. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
- ^ "Vilagos and Knighton named Rising Stars of 2022". trackalert. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
