Featured Image Credit: Getty / Obi One Podcast
Topics: Athletics, Olympics, Usain Bolt, Jamaica, United States
Ryan Smart
Topics: Athletics, Olympics, Usain Bolt, Jamaica, United States
Usain Bolt has tipped one man to be the next star of sprinting - but has sent him a warning in the process.
Bolt, who is statistically the greatest sprinter of all time, holds world records in both the 100 metre and 200 metre disciplines.
The Jamaican has eight Olympic gold medals to his name, and holds the distinction of winning a gold medal in every Olympic race he ever contested on track.
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The one race Bolt failed to secure a gold medal was as a result of a team-mate's positive drug test in a 4 x 100 metre relay at Rio 2016, that caused Jamaica's result to be expunged from the records.
Ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, the now 37-year-old will be watching on as a largely new group of sprinters attempt to claim gold in the 100m and 200m.
The reigning 100m champion, Marcell Jacobs, has not recorded a time of below 10 seconds all season and is not seen as a leading contender to retain his title.
Silver medallist Fred Kerley, meanwhile, finished in third in the US Olympic trials earlier this year, with compatriot Noah Lyles seen as a more likely candidate to win gold.
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The sprinter who has impressed Bolt the most, though, will be competing at the 200m having qualified through the US Olympic trials.
Speaking on the Obi One podcast, the Jamaica legend named US sprinter Erriyon Knighton as the man to watch in the future.
Knighton, who turned 20 years of age in January, finished second in the 200m at the 2023 World Championships, clocking a time of 19.75.
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He also set the world under-20 record at 200m, with his personal best time in the discipline standing at 19.49 - only 0.3 seconds behind Bolt's stunning 2009 world record of 19.19.
Like Bolt, Knighton is adept at both 100m and 200m - and the eight-time Olympic gold medalist thinks he could be a future star of the sport.
He said: "I don't see it [any current sprinter beating my world record].
"At times, you can see talent where you go, 'Oh, if he develops, he's going to'. I just don't see it.
"There is one kid who had my attention for a while. His name is Knighton, from the States. He ran 19.40-something.
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"He's only just turning 20. So he was pretty good.
"But it's all about developing the talent. You have to find a good coach, someone to nurture and understand how to nurture the talent and help to build that talent.
"When I saw him, I thought, 'This kid really impressed me'."