At the US Olympic Track and Field Team Trials, speed will reign supreme. Names like Noah Lyles and Fred Kerley will undoubtedly be some of the stars whom the entire nation will rally behind, but lesser-known athletes with thrilling accolades in their bags will also step on the tracks at Eugene with dreams of winning everything that comes their way. 20-year-old Erriyon Knighton is one such name, who has a lot of hopes residing on his broad shoulders.

In 2022, Knighton became an overnight phenome after he broke Usain Bolt’s U20 200m record that stood tall for 21 years. Now, as he eyes a spot in the national team for his second straight Olympic Games, here’s a look at what his on-track prowess has added to his value off the tracks.

How rich is Erriyon Knighton?

Knighton is still on the rise, and most of his career is still ahead of him. Thanks to his break-neck speeds, Erriyon has been a steady earner and is valued at $200,000. While this amount might look not so high, his consistency should promise a different story in the years to come.

With promises by both the USATF and the World Athletics to award cash prizes to medal haulers in Paris, Knighton could be looking at a massive bump in his valuation should he manage to pull off something truly perplexing. Moreover, the fact that Knighton already has some truly commendable achievements under his belt, the prospect of him becoming one of the most sought-after track stars in the future wouldn’t be a far-fetched speculation.

Major achievements of the Olympian

Slowly, but surely, Usain Bolt will have to give way to the newer generation. While the Jamaican phenom is still the benchmark of all sprinting sports to this day, his youth records aren’t that lucky. At the 2021 Olympic Team Trials in Eugene, teenager Erriyon Knighton broke Usain Bolt’s U20 200m record with a stunning 19.88 seconds. At the finals of the event, he came in third after Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek and qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Things were only bound to get brighter from there.

Baton Rouge was another of those rare places that saw Bolt being toppled from his mantle as Knighton once again dropped a seminal 19.49 seconds performance at the LSU Invitational. Since then, Erriyon has displayed his mettle on more than one occasion as he racked up multiple sub-20-second runs in various events. However, all these possibly pale in comparison to how he fared at the Tokyo Games, albeit failing to clinch a podium finish. In the men’s 200m race, Knighton finished fourth with a time of 19.83 seconds, but the fact that he went toe-to-toe with the world’s top stars is a feat on its own, especially considering he was the youngest athlete in the USA’s roster.

While a failed drug test cast dark shadows over Knighton’s Paris dream, it has been revealed only recently that the WADA might consider his appeal and let him participate in the US Olympic Team Trials. But will the wobble on the way to the French capital tamper with the youngster’s composure? Only time will tell.