Erriyon Knighton, teen who broke Usain Bolt junior records, shatters another

By OlympicTalkApr 30, 2022, 4:48 PM EDT

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Erriyon Knighton, who last year at age 17 broke Usain Bolt junior sprint records, shattered his own U20 record in the 200m and became the fourth-fastest man in history on Saturday.

Knighton clocked 19.49 seconds in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the world’s fastest time since the 2012 Olympics, to move behind Bolt (19.19 world record), Yohan Blake and Michael Johnson on the all-time list.

Knighton lowered his personal best and U20 record from 19.84 seconds, set at last year’s Olympic Trials. Knighton went on to finish fourth in Tokyo, becoming the youngest U.S. male track and field Olympian since miler Jim Ryun in 1964.

Bolt broke 19.5 seconds on four occasions — the 2008 and 2012 Olympic finals and 2009 and 2011 World Championships finals. His best time before turning 20 was 19.93. He broke 19.5 for the first time one day before turning 22.

Knighton, who turned professional last year as a Florida high school junior, moved from the joint-35th-fastest man in history to fourth, passing the likes of Tommie Smith (19.83), Carl Lewis (19.75) and Noah Lyles (19.50).

Knighton’s time is the second-fastest 200m ever recorded by an American after Johnson’s then-world record 19.32 at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Knighton’s major races this season are at the USATF Outdoor Championships in June and, if he makes the team, the world championships in July. Both meets are in Eugene, Oregon, where he ran 19.84 last summer.

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OH MY GOODNESS 😱

🥇 @ErriyonK | 19.49
🥈 Fahnbulleh | 19.92
🥉 @camel_dorian | 20.00

We just witnessed the fourth fastest time in world history by Knighton. Camel drops a huge PR with a time of 20.00 to become the fourth fastest in LSU history!#GeauxTigers pic.twitter.com/AE4QmTYbTN

— LSU Track & Field (@LSUTrackField) April 30, 2022

Coco Gauff rallies past 16-year-old at French Open

By OlympicTalkJun 3, 2023, 10:11 AM EDT

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Coco Gauff rallied to defeat 16-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva in the French Open third round in Gauff’s first Grand Slam singles match against a younger opponent.

The sixth seed Gauff, the 2022 French Open runner-up, outlasted Andreeva 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-1 to reach the fourth round, where she will play Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova or American Kayla Day. Gauff could play top seed and defending champ Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals.

This week, Andreeva became the youngest player to win a French Open main draw match since 2005 (when 15-year-old Sesil Karatantcheva of Bulgaria made the quarterfinals). She was bidding to become the youngest to make the last 16 of any major since Gauff’s breakout as a 15-year-old.

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The American made it that far at 2019 Wimbledon (beating Venus Williams in her Grand Slam main draw debut) and the 2020 Australian Open (beating defending champion Naomi Osaka) before turning 16. At last year’s French Open, Gauff became the youngest player to make a Grand Slam final since Maria Sharapova won 2004 Wimbledon at 17.

This was only Gauff’s third match against a younger player dating to her tour debut in 2019. It took Gauff 50 Grand Slam matches to finally face a younger player on this stage, a testament to how ahead of the curve she was (and still is at age 19).

While Gauff is the only teenager ranked in the top 49 in the world, Andreeva is the highest-ranked player under the age of 18 at No. 143 (and around No. 100 after the French). And she doesn’t turn 17 until next April. Andreeva dropped just six games in her first two matches at this French Open, fewest of any woman.

Gauff is the last seeded American woman left in the draw after No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 20 Madison Keys and No. 32 Shelby Rogers previously lost.

The last U.S. woman to win a major title was Sofia Kenin at the 2020 Australian Open. The 11-major span without an American champ is the longest for U.S. women since Monica Seles won the 1996 Australian Open.

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Rafael Nadal expected to miss rest of 2023 season after surgery

By OlympicTalkJun 3, 2023, 8:54 AM EDT

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Rafael Nadal is expected to need five months to recover from arthroscopic surgery for a left hip flexor injury that kept him out of the French Open, effectively ruling him out for the rest of 2023 ATP tournament season.

Nadal underwent the surgery Friday night in Barcelona on the eve of his 37th birthday. He posted that, if all goes well, the recovery time is five months.

The timetable leaves open the possibility that Nadal could return for the Nov. 21-26 Davis Cup Finals team event in Malaga, Spain, which take place after the ATP Tour tournament season ends.

Nadal announced on May 18 that he had to withdraw from the French Open, a tournament he won a record 14 times, due to the injury that’s sidelined him since January’s Australian Open.

Nadal also said he will likely retire from professional tennis in the second half of 2024 after a farewell season that he hopes includes playing at Roland Garros twice — for the French Open and then the Paris Olympics.

When Nadal returns to competition, he will be older than any previous Grand Slam singles champion in the Open Era.

Nadal is tied with Novak Djokovic for the men’s record 23 Grand Slam singles titles.

While Nadal needs to be one of the four-highest ranked Spanish men after next year’s French Open for direct Olympic qualification in singles, he can, essentially, temporarily freeze his ranking in the top 20 under injury protection rules.

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