_Eugene_2022.jpg) Knighton at the2022 World Athletics Championships inEugene | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (2004-01-29)January 29, 2004 (age 21)[1] Jesup, Georgia, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[1] | |||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 170 lb (77 kg)[1][2] | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  United States | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Track and field | |||||||||||||||||
Event(s) | 100 meters,200 meters | |||||||||||||||||
| Club | My Brother's Keeper Track Club[2] | |||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Jonathan Terry[2] andMike Holloway[3] | |||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personalbests |
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Medal record
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Erriyon Knighton (born January 29, 2004)[4] is an Americansprinter specializing in the100 meters and200 meters. At the age of 18, he won the bronze medal in the 200 m at the2022 World Athletics Championships, becoming the youngest ever individual sprint medalist in Championships history. He was also the silver medalist at the 2023 200m final at the World Championships.
Knighton holds theworld under-18 best in the 200 m of 19.84 seconds, set on June 27, 2021, andworld U20 record with a time of 19.69 seconds, set on June 26, 2022. His best mark of 19.49 s (not ratified as U20 record[5]) makes him the sixth-fastest athlete in history over the distance, only surpassed byUsain Bolt,Yohan Blake,Noah Lyles,Michael Johnson andLetsile Tebogo.[3] It was also the fastest season opener ever.
In 2022, Knighton became the first athlete in history to win a secondWorld AthleticsMale Rising Star of the Year award.[6]
On 12 September 2025, Knighton received a four-year suspension for an anti-doping rule violation in 2024, when appeals byWorld Athletics and theWorld Anti-Doping Agency of an earlier ruling were upheld by theCourt of Arbitration for Sport.[7]
Erriyon Knighton started participating intrack and field in 2019 as a freshman atHillsborough High School inTampa, Florida. During his time there, he ran the second fastest time over200 meters for an under-18 athlete in world history, clocking 20.33 seconds in the final at the 2020USA Track & Field Junior Olympics inSatellite Beach, Florida.[2] He also played for Hillsborough's football team as a wide receiver; rated a four-star recruit by247Sports.com, he received scholarship offers from schools including Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, and Florida.[8][9]
At age 16 in January, Knighton signed a sponsorship deal withAdidas in his junior year of high school, forgoing his remaining two years of amateur competition at Hillsborough High.[2] On May 2, he broke the10-second barrier over100 meters at the PURE Athletics Sprint Elite Meet inClermont, Florida, with a time of 9.99 seconds, but the wind was over the+2.0 meters per second velocity limit (+2.7) for record consideration.[10]
On May 31, the 17-year-old set the world under-18 best in the boys' 200 meters in a time of 20.11 seconds, breakingUsain Bolt's best by two hundredths of a second.[11][12] At theUS Olympic Trials he would improve that time to 20.04 s in the first round on June 25, and then again to 19.88 s in the semi-finals the following day, breaking Bolt's world U20 record by five hundredths of a second. He then improved his own record to 19.84 seconds in the final on June 27, qualifying for the postponed2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
At the Tokyo Games, Knighton became the youngest male to represent the United States in track and field sinceJim Ryun in 1964.[13] On August 3, he finished first in his 200-meter Olympic semi-final heat and qualified for an automatic spot in the final to be run the next day.[14] In the final he finished in fourth with a time of19.93 seconds.[13]
On April 30, Knighton set an unratified world junior record in the 200 m at the LSU Invitational in Baton Rouge running a time of 19.49 seconds, which remains his personal best up to now.[15] He achieved 19.69 s at theUSA Outdoor T&F Championships in June. Knighton later on went on to place third in the event at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, in Eugene, USA, becoming the youngest ever individual sprint medalist inChampionship history.[16][17] He also became the youngest winner of aDiamond League race with his200 m victory on September 2 inBrussels.[18]
On July 9, 2023, in Eugene during theUSA Outdoor T&F Championships, he won his first senior national title by triumphing in the 200 meters with a time of 19.72 seconds.[19]
At the2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August, Erriyon Knighton once again stood on a world podium by finishing second in the 200 m final with a time of 19.75 seconds. He was once again beaten byNoah Lyles, who won comfortably with a time of 19.52 seconds.[20]
At the end of the season in September, he finished third in the200 m final of theDiamond League inEugene with a time of 19.97 seconds.[21]
Erriyon closed his last season as a junior with 18 times under 20 seconds in the 200 meters, with his top 10 times occupying the 10 best U20 performances of all time in the 200 meters.
He started his season with a 200m indoor race in Liévin, France, where he won in a time of 20.21 seconds.[22]
On March 26, Knighton was provisionally suspended by theUS Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after testing positive for a metabolite of the anabolic steroidtrenbolone. In June the USADA accepted Knighton's explanation that the source of the trenbolone was contaminated meat and ruled that he bore "no fault or negligence" for the positive test. He therefore received no sanction.[23][24]
At theUS Olympic trials, he placed third in the 200 m with a time of 19.77 seconds, qualifying for the2024 Summer Olympics inParis.[25] During the Olympic Games, Knighton recorded times inthe 200m of 19.99 in the heats and 20.09 in the semi-final.[26] In the final, Knighton finished in fourth place with a time of 19.99 seconds.[27][28]
In early August, after the Olympics ended, theAthletics Integrity Unit launched an appeal with theCourt of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against United States Anti-Doping Agency's decision regarding Knighton's positive drug test.[29][30]
He participated in2025 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, placing fifth in the 200m, with a time of 19.97 seconds.
On September 12, 2025, CAS overturned the USADA decision that Knighton bore "no fault or negligence" for the positive test in 2024 and instead issued him with a four-year ban set to expire in July 2029.[31] CAS accepted appeals from World Athletics and WADA that the evidence for contaminated meat "fell short of the required proof of source" and was "statistically impossible".[32] His results from 26 March 2024 to 12 April 2024 disqualified retroactively.
Information fromWorld Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.
| Distance | Time (s) | Wind | Location | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 meters (i) | 6.61 | Gainesville, FL, U.S. | February 1, 2025 | ||
| 100 meters | 10.04 | -0.1 m/s | Gainesville, FL, U.S. | April 16, 2022 | |
| 9.98w | +2.1 m/s | Gainesville, FL, U.S. | April 1, 2023 | Wind-assisted | |
| 150 meters | 14.85 | +1.4 m/s | Atlanta, GA, U.S. | May 6, 2023 | |
| 200 meters | 19.49 | +1.4 m/s | Baton Rouge, LA, U.S. | April 30, 2022 | AU20R |
| 200 meters (i)[33] | 20.21 | - | Arena Stade Couvert, Liévin (FRA) | February 10, 2024 | |
| 400 meters | 45.37 | - | Gainesville, FL, U.S. | April 5, 2025 | |
| Youth and junior achievements | |||||
| 200 meters | 19.84 | +0.3 m/s | Eugene, OR, U.S. | June 27, 2021 | World under-18 best |
| 19.69 | -0.3 m/s | Eugene, OR, U.S. | June 26, 2022 | World under-20 record | |
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 4th | 200 m | 19.93 | |
| 2022 | World Championships | Eugene, OR, United States | 3rd | 200 m | 19.80 | |
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 2nd | 200 m | 19.75 | |
| 2024 | Olympic Games | Paris, France | 4th | 200 m | 19.99 |
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Time | Wind (m/s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | U.S. Olympic Trials | Eugene, Oregon | 3rd | 200 m | 19.84 | +0.3 | WU18B |
| 2022 | USATF Championships | Eugene, Oregon | 2nd | 200 m | 19.69 | −0.3 | WU20R |
| 2023 | USATF Championships | Eugene, Oregon | 1st | 200 m | 19.72 | −0.1 | SB |
| 2024 | U.S. Olympic Trials | Eugene, Oregon | 3rd | 200 m | 19.77 | +0.5 | SB |
| 2025 | USATF Championships | Eugene, Oregon | 5th | 200 m | 19.97 | +0.2 | SB |
Knighton had opened his season with a time of 19.49 in Baton Rouge, but that mark could not be ratified as a world U20 record because specific anti-doping testing requirements were not met.
| Records | ||
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| Preceded by | Boys' World Under-18 Best Holder,200 meters 31 May 2021 – present | Incumbent |
| Men's World Under-20 Record Holder,200 meters 26 June 2021 – present | Incumbent | |
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| Men's track and road athletes |
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| Women's track and road athletes |
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| Women's field athletes | ||
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