The retirement of multiple World Record (WR) holder in the sprints, Usain Bolt, at the end of the World Championships, signaled the end of an era. The Jamaican legend completely dominated the 100m/200m for almost a decade, before calling time on his illustrious career.
In as much as we all agree that there can never be another Usain Bolt, we have however put together a list of up and coming young sprinters to watch out for in the post-Bolt era. In the first part of this series, we will feature Nos. 8 to 5 on our list.
Clarence Munyai
Clarence Munyai had an outstanding 2017 and is one young sprinter to watch out for.
He has only spent three years in the sport but South African teenage sprinting sensation Clarence Munyai has already achieved a lot since stealing the spotlight at the 2016 South African Senior Championships where he won the 200m, becoming the second youngest ever senior champion in the 200m. He also made his debut at the Olympics and then finished 4th at the 2016 IAAF World Junior Championships.
Munyai then moved things a notch higher in 2017. At the Gauteng North League meet held in March in South Africa, the 19-year old smashed the South African and African Junior Record of 20.16s set by Riaan Drempers in 1995, replacing it with a Personal Best (PB) of 20.10s while finishing 2nd to Akani Simbine in the 200m. He had earlier clocked a PB of 10.20s in 2nd place to Simbine in the 100m.
He made his debut at the IAAF World Championships in London as the second youngest competitor in the men’s 200m lineup. Although it wasn’t a good outing for the young sprinter as he was disqualified in his heat, Munyai is certainly one youngster that will light up the track in coming years.
Trayvon Bromell
US Sprinter Trayvon Bromell may not have enjoyed a spectacular season; nevertheless, we still believe he is one of the young sprinters that will make a difference in the post-Bolt era, especially with the emergence of another young American rival Christian Coleman, expected to spice things up within the US and beyond.
Bromell demonstrated his potential to the world after upstaging his older rivals to claim a Bronze medal in the men’s 100m at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing. He won the 60m at the 2016 World Indoors in Portland, and then placed 8th in the 100m final at the Rio Olympics.
He said afterwards: โWhen I got to like, 50m, I started feeling some pain. I wanted to show people that I’ve got heart. Next year, you’re going to see a new Trayvon.โ Next season, we definitely hope to see a brand new Trayvon Bromell rekindling his rivalry with Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse, his compatriots Noah Lyles and Coleman, and other emerging sprinters.
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown
Sani Brown was the youngest competitor in the men’s 100m/200m at the 2017 World Championships.
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown burst on the limelight after claiming the sprint double as a 16-year old at the 2015 IAAF World U-18 Championships, running Championship Records (CR) of 10.28s in the 100m, and erasing the former 200m CR set by Usain Bolt, replacing it with a time of 20.34s.
He went on to compete at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing where he got to the semis of the 200m. What an impressive result from a 16-year old debutante! At the end of that year, he was named the IAAF (Male) Rising Star, underlining his status as one to watch out for in the near future.
He had a better outing in the 200m where he was 2nd in his heat, following Blake in 20.52s, before placing 2nd behind Jereem Richards in 20.43s to book a place in the final where he finished in 7th position (20.63s). Sani Brown joined the University of Florida this autumn, and will be looking forward to doing the Gators proud in the coming season.
Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake
Great Britain’s Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake competed in the 200m at the London World Championships, narrowly missing a podium finish after placing 4th in the event.
British sprinter Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake is our fifth young male sprinter to watch out for in the coming years. The 2013 200m European Junior Champion is the second fastest Briton of all time (after John Regis) with his Personal Best (PB) of 19.95s set last year in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
He then raced in the final of the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June, settling for 6th position in the 100m (10.26s), before storming to Silver in the 200m behind Coleman, clocking a time of 20.29s. A month later, he claimed the British 200m National title to make his first World Championships team.
Mitchell-Blake who enjoyed the backing of the home crowd at the World Championships, easily won his 200m heat in 20.08s, before finishing 3rd in the semis (20.19s) behind USA’s Isiah Young (20.12s) and Isaac Makwala (20.14s). He narrowly missed out on a medal in the final as he placed 4th in a time of 20.24s, with Turkey’s Ramil Guliyev striking GOLD in 20.09s.
Jereem Richards
Jereem who? That was the resonating theme at the London World Championships when the Trinidad and Tobago athlete ran the fastest time of 20.05s in the first round of the 200m.
Not much was known about Richards prior to that race, and after that, he instantly got elevated to the status of a contender for the 200m title, alongside the likes of Wayde Van Niekerk.
In a race where he had a poor start, Richards still ran a good home straight and was able to finish on the podium, sharing the same time of 20.11s to finish behind Van Niekerk who was 2nd, with Ramil Guliyev taking the victory in 20.09s.
Noah Lyles.
Right from 2014 when he announced himself on the big stage, winning the GOLD medal in the 200m at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, he has made the steady progression and is well placed as one of the next generation of athletes destined for greatness.
Lyles in 2016 went a step further, competing in just the 100m at the World U-20 Championships in Bydgoszcz where he clinched the title with a time of 10.14s. He didn’t compete in the 200m, a strategy many felt he was deploying in order not to exert himself so much on too many races. He did however go on to anchor Team USA to victory in the 4x100m event.
In that race, Lyles defeated World Champion Guliyev, and went on to become the youngest ever 200m Diamond Trophy winner, clocking a time of 20.00s. That time saw him account for two of the 10 fastest times over that distance this year.
On the indoor circuit, Lyles is the 300m World Record holder with a time of 31.87s achieved during the 2017 US Indoor Championships, which was his first senior indoor championships.
Christian Coleman
Hands up if you already knew about Christian Coleman prior to this season! You must be an ardent follower of his Collegiate career to have known about him before this year.
It must be said that it was in 2017 that Coleman gained more prominence outside the shores of USA, registering his name on the minds of the Athletics faithful with his feat this year.
Just before the commencement of the World Champs in London, we listed Coleman as one of five young athletes to watch out for, and we are delighted to say that he didn’t disappoint.
The 21-year old went into the championships as the world leader in the 100m with a time of 9.82s, so it’s safe to say many kept out an eye for him to see if what he did in Eugene was a flash in the pan.
With all that he has displayed this year, Coleman would in the nearest future be gunning for Olympic and world titles.
Andre De Grasse
Many view Andre De Grasse as the heir apparent to the Sprinting throne when both Gatlin and Bolt exit the scene, with the latter having since proceeded into the comforts of retirement.
There was every reason to accord De Grasse that status after only turning pro in 2015, and then winning a joint Bronze medal with Trayvon Bromell in his maiden World Championships that same year.
In all these, one can deduce an athlete brewing with confidence in his ability to become the best.
De Grasse has grown in leaps and bounds since 2015, having impressive Personal Bests of 6.60s in the 60m, 9.91s in the 100m and a National Record (NR) of 19.80s in the 200m.
There’s no doubt that De Grasse will bounce back better in 2018 and would be eager to prove to the world that he deserves to be the next Sprint King.
