Knighton’s 200m record earns him USATF Athlete of the Week honors

INDIANAPOLIS — Smashing the world U20 record* in the men’s 200m, Erriyon Knighton (Riverview, Florida) earned recognition as the 17th USATF Athlete of the Week award winner for 2022.
 
Knighton, an 18-year-old high schooler, won the 200m at the LSU Invitational in 19.49 to take 0.35 seconds off his own world U20 record that he set in the final at the Olympic Trials last summer. His historic run moved him to No. 4 on the all-time world performer list behind Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake and Michael Johnson, and No. 2 on the U.S. all-time performer list behind only Johnson.
 
After breaking the U20 WR twice at the Trials, Knighton went on to place fourth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. He now has the top four 200m performances in U20 history, sharing the No. 4 mark with Bolt, who set the previous U20 WR of 19.93 in 2004. He is also tied for the No. 9 spot on the all-time world U20 100m performer list with a best of 10.04.
 
Other top performances from last week:

• Lester Wright broke the world masters men's 100-104 age group 100m record with his 26.34 at the Penn Relays, one day after his 100th birthday. The existing record of 26.99 was set in 2015.
• Dalilah Muhammad raced to a world-leading 53.88 in the women's 400m hurdles in cold and breezy conditions at the Drake Relays.
• Trey Cunningham clocked a world-leading 13.10 in the men's 110m hurdles at North Florida to become the No. 4 all-time collegiate performer.
• Nick Christie bettered the American record* in the men's 5,000m race walk with a 19:23.30 that took more than five seconds off the existing record, which was set in 2003.
• Athing Mu won the women's 600m at the Penn Relays with a 1:22.74 that ranks her as the world's No. 4 all-time performer.

*Pending verification by the USATF Records Committee.
 
Now in its 21st year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week when there are high-level competitions and features the athlete on USATF.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
 
2022 Winners: January 10, Alicia Monson; January 17, Keira D’Amato; January 24, Nyckoles Harbor; January 31, Elle Purrier St. Pierre; February 7, Chris Nilsen; February 14, Grant Fisher; February 21, Camille Herron; February 28, Cole Hocker; March 7, Grant Fisher; March 14, Randolph Ross; March 21, Grant Holloway; March 28, Anna Hall; April 4, Natalie Cook; April 11, Valarie Allman; April 18, Gabby Thomas; April 25, Robyn Stevens; May 2, Erriyon Knighton.
 
We welcome your nominations!
 
To nominate an athlete for USATF Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about his/her performance to communications@usatf.org.
 
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