A new outdoor season is upon us, and on Saturday that manifested in a historic moment from the American teenage phenom Erriyon Knighton.
The 18-year-old Olympian from Tampa, Florida blasted a new World U20 record for 200 meters at the LSU Invitational, authoring a wind-legal time of 19.49 (+1.4).
And it was never in question.
Out-dueling the likes of Florida's Joseph Fahnbulleh (19.92) and LSU's Dorian Camel (20.00), Knighton was five-tenths better than anyone else on the track.
The performance was the fourth-fastest ever at the distance, trailing only behind Usain Bolt (19.19), Yohan Blake (19.26) and Michael Johnson (19.32).
But the latter comparison may be the most significant of all.
Knighton, a fast-rising star for the United States, is now a little more than a tenth off of Johnson's best mark. The Texan is considered one of the top American of all-time at the distance; he's a four-time gold medalist at the Olympics.
Fresh off his fourth-place finish in the 200m at the Olympics, Knighton is fast-tracking into one of the top stars in the world. A year ago, he became the first American teenager to ever go under 20 seconds and finished his season with three performances under 20 seconds between the U.S. Olympic Trials and the Olympics.
He set a new World U20 record of 19.84 seconds last year at the Trials.
A year later, he's already in top form, a three-tenths of a second faster.
It's still one of the best stories in track and field.
Consider the timing, and where Knighton finds himself. He's barreling past where most high schoolers would be at this point in their lives: High school graduation.
It's been of little concern for Knighton.
This meet marked his third meet on the schedule, following efforts in the 100m at the Bermuda Games and in the 4x100 and 4x400 at the Tom Jones Invitational.