Throwback Thursday: Erriyon Knighton Clocks 20.33 At AAU

Jul 07, 2022

* Erriyon Knighton won the 200m at the 2020 AAU Junior Olympics

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The 2020 season marked Erriyon Knighton's (FL) second year of running on the oval, and it potentially was the catalyst toward his decision to later give up football in favor of track and field.

On this day, his power and strength immediately turned heads as he quickly became one of the World's top young athletes to watch in the sprints. People were able to see how special this rising star was as a 16-year-old at the AAU Junior Olympics in the 200m.

In the finals, the spectators were on their feet in the stands to make sure they didn't miss Knighton on the track. Knighton gave them a show as he secured himself a new sophomore national high school record and a 16-year-old age group record with a wind-legal performance of 20.33 (+0.3).

At the time, Knighton was two-tenths of a second off the World U18 record of 20.13 which was set by Usain Bolt in 2013. A year later Knighton took down the world record holder's age group record at the 2021 Duval County Challenge with a 20.11.