Athletics-Knighton sets his own pace for success ahead of Olympic trials

The best is yet to come for American Erriyon Knighton, with the young sprinter telling Reuters he had far from reached his full potential ahead of the U.S. Olympic track and field trials. The 20-year-old has had enormous expectations on his shoulders after breaking retired great Usain Bolt's junior records in the 200 metres and becoming the youngest individual sprint medallist at the worlds with bronze two years ago.

The best is yet to come for American Erriyon Knighton, with the young sprinter telling Reuters he had far from reached his full potential ahead of the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.

The 20-year-old has had enormous expectations on his shoulders after breaking retired great Usain Bolt's junior records in the 200 metres and becoming the youngest individual sprint medallist at the worlds with bronze two years ago. The Red Bull athlete upgraded to silver in his signature event at the worlds in Budapest last year and is ready to run on his own terms with the Paris Games in his sights.

"Until I get old ... there's still going to be (comments) like, 'the young phenom' or 'I did this at this age'," he said. "They were expecting me to break the world record when I was like 19, 20 years old. But in reality it's just not like that." The early success came with outsized expectations: fans and armchair experts wanted more, eager to see Knighton achieve Bolt's unrealised dream of breaking 19 seconds in the 200, with relentless comparisons to the Jamaican superstar.

But the Tampa native has no issue with taking his time. "I'm just not at the point where I'm like at my best, but I'm getting better," said Knighton. "When I reach my best, then we can talk about the world records."

He starts his outdoor season later this month at the Atlanta City Games and the Eugene Diamond League meet before turning his focus to the U.S. Olympic trials, also at Hayward Field. Knighton will focus on the 200m but hopes for a spot on the men's 4x100 relay team if he punches his ticket to Paris, where he would almost certainly be grouped with Noah Lyles.

The pair have formed one of the sport's most compelling rivalries, after Lyles denied Knighton a spot on the podium at the Tokyo Olympics by taking bronze in the 200m. Lyles has shown no interest in handing over the baton to his younger counterpart as he claimed his third successive gold at Budapest in the event and won the 100 metres as well.

"He's doing his thing right now," said Knighton. "Everybody has their time and place in a rivalry. And I feel like just going on in the years once I get older, you know, it's just going to be a movie every time we step on the track."

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