Knighton had been the world record holder U20 since June last year with 19.84, but now he dived again sensitively under that record. In the all-time global ranking, he rocketed from 35th to 4th place. Only Usain Bolt (19.19), Yohan Blake (19.26) and Michael Johnson (19.32) were ever faster. It’s been a while since the Olympic final in London in 2012 that it ran so fast. Then Bolt ran 19.32 and Blake 19.44.
By comparison, when Bolt was Knighton’s age, he ran 19.93. Not only his age makes the achievement of the eighteen-year-old American unique, but also that he does it so early in the year. Anyone who has ever been faster than him did so in August or September.