Fast is Erriyon Knighton’s modus operandi.

He runs fast. Knighton owns the 11 fastest 200m times by any sprinter under age 20 — ever. At 20 now, he’s already smashed many of Usain Bolt’s previous records.

He works fast. Knighton began running track as a freshman in high school. In a flash, he became one of the fastest, most electrifying young runners in the country. Two years later, as a junior, he signed a pro contract with Adidas and entered the adult world at age 17. He qualified for the U.S. Olympic team a few months after that.

“Everything happened so fast with my career,” Knighton said. “That was my first year as a professional, and I made an Olympic team."

A lot of people work hard their whole lives to make it. It just came so fast for me that I couldn't even think about it.

And if he wasn’t running, Knighton would be moving even faster.

“If I had a chance to switch my career, 10 times out of 10, I'd be an F1 driver,” Knighton said. “No doubt.”

Knighton’s running style evokes a certain aura. At 6-foot-3 with long strides, highlights of the phenom’s majestic victories regularly turned viral during his high school years. He won AAU Junior Olympic titles in both the 100m and 200m in 2020 before turning pro.

“I just put in the work and became that guy that everybody talks about,” Knighton said. “Sometimes, it’s 110 degrees outside, and you don't want to be outside, you just want to go home. All the work that I put in is getting recognized.”

Months into his pro career, Knighton blazed to a new world record in the under-18 boys' 200m, posting a time of 20.11 seconds and breaking Bolt's record by two hundredths of a second.

Bolt has since predicted that Knighton “will be a great one.”

High praise from track’s top living legend.

“It feels good knowing that I’m in a conversation with one of the greatest of all-time,” Knighton said. “But I never really look at it as if I'm hiding in his shadow.”

As the 2024 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials approach in June, Knighton is still feeling aftershocks from making the team in 2020. By qualifying for Tokyo that year, Knighton became the youngest male in 57 years — since Jim Ryun in 1964 — to make the U.S. Olympic team.

“Just making an Olympic team at such a young age was insane, knowing that I can compete with those guys on the next level.”

Knighton rolled up to Tokyo as a wide-eyed 17-year-old with little expected of him.

“I was the youngest in the field,” he remembered. “A lot of people didn't have me making it out of the first round.”

He’s right. Knighton was competing with a loaded field that included Andre De Grasse, who won gold, Kenny Bednarek (silver) and Noah Lyles (bronze). But the teenage sensation sprinted his way to the final, becoming the youngest male Olympian to reach a 200m final since 1984.

His time of 19.93 seconds would have been good enough to win gold in 19 previous Olympic Games, placing Knighton’s feat among the all-time great Olympic performances by a teenager.

Since Tokyo, Knighton earned 200m bronze at the 2022 World Championships, becoming the youngest person ever to medal at worlds. He then secured silver the following year.

And throughout each of these triumphs, Knighton was just a kid. Like many kids, he had other duties.

“I’m not really a school person,” Knighton admitted. “I did make good grades, though.”

That’s not a concern for now. Because Knighton is an adult. He isn’t some “teenage phenom” anymore. He’s 20, maturing rapidly and locking in on the buildup to the Paris Olympics.

“I'm trying to figure out how to put more into this,” Knighton said. “ I’m really focusing on knowing what I’m doing instead of stepping on the track and just running."

“Once I get the focus part down, then I can really make some magic happen on the track.”