Next Usain Bolt?
The next Usain Bolt? Watch high school kid sprint 100m in just 9.98sec.. but wind makes Matthew Boling’s record invalid
A HIGH school teen has been tipped to become the next Usain Bolt — after running the 100 metres in just 9.98 seconds.
Matthew Boling, 18, recorded the incredible mark as he destroyed his rivals at a race in Houston, Texas.
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Given the race is being run the wrong way down the home straight, it appears officials changed the race around for favourable wind conditions.
But it appears to have worked TOO well.
Boling beat his rivals from gun to tape, getting out of the blocks quickly, before opening up his stride to take an emphatic victory by 0.3sec to his nearest challenger.
However, in the aftermath of the race, it turned out the run was over the 2.0 metres-per-second limit, with a +4.2mps reading.
So it stands as an unofficial high school record, but because of the tailwind — it has been scrubbed from the record books.
It was still enough to get him signed up to the University of Georgia, where he is being tipped to play American football as well as run track and field.
US teen Anthony Schwartz recorded a time of 10.15sec at a race in Florida in 2017, but this is the lowest number since in all conditions.
WHY HE'S FASTER THAN TEEN BOLT
How does it compare to track icon Bolt though?
Interestingly, the long-legged Jamaican avoided the 100m until he was 20, choosing instead to focus on the 200m.
He recorded 10.03sec at a race in Greece in 2007, but wasn't really tipped to do much damage in the event.
Then he began his incredible rise to fame, running that iconic world record at the Beijing Olympics of 9.69sec, where he began celebrating ten metres from the line.
The Lightning Bolt then went on to lower his own mark a year later in Berlin with 9.58sec, a world record that still stands today and many reckon could still be in place for decades.
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British speedster Mark Lewis-Francis actually set a FASTER time at the age of 18, running 9.97sec at the Edmonton World Championships in 2001.
But frustratingly a faulty wind gauge ruled the time out and he never matched that again in his career, with a time of 10.04sec his official PB.
Lewis-Francis did go on to anchor Team GB to Olympic gold in the 4x100m relay in 2004 though, a big highlight in his career.
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