US Track Stars Tied This Jamaican All-Time Best Record in 2021

Published 09/21/2021, 12:00 PM EDT

In the last decade, Jamaican sprinters treated fans across the world with dominance on the track. Ranging from Yohan Blake to Usain Bolt, the Caribbean country produced sprinters who not only clinched gold medals in world championships, but in successive Olympics as well.

However, 2021 has been an impressive year for American sprinters. In fact, their 200m male sprinters this year matched a record made by Jamaican sprinters nine years ago.

USA track stars match impressive Jamaican record in the men’s 200m category

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In 2012, Jamaica’s sprinters ruled the roost. With names like Blake, Bolt and Warren Weir, the Jamaicans produced exhilarating displays in various tournaments, with the London Olympics being testament to their abilities.

In that year, five of their sprinters recorded under 19.9 seconds in the men’s 200m category. Among those names, Bolt, Blake and Weir are the most prominent. In fact, the trio recorded a 1-2-3 finish in the men’s 200m final in London, marking the first of its kind for the Caribbean nation.

However, 2021 has seen some stars emerge from the United States. This year, five of their sprinters also recorded under 19.9s in this distance, matching Jamaica’s unprecedented 2012 record.

The American sprinters who achieved this feat are Noah Lyles with 19.52s, Kenny Bednarek with 19.68s, Fred Kerley with 19.76s, Terrance Laird with 19.81s and rising star Erriyon Knighton with 19.84s.

That figure actually ties Jamaica's all-time best in a single season from 2012.
— Costas Goulas (@LsabreAvenger) September 20, 2021

Knighton’s time is a world junior record, breaking his own time of 19.88 in the US Olympic Trials. In addition, Knighton’s time of 19.88s broke Bolt’s long-standing record of 19.93s.

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USA’s male sprinters won three medals in the Tokyo Olympics

Although they came to the Tokyo Olympics with a strong reputation, USA’s male sprinters couldn’t taste gold. Kerley won silver in the men’s 100m category, finishing behind Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs in a stunning race.

Meanwhile, Bednarek clinched silver in the men’s 200m race, finishing behind Canada’s Andre De Grasse. Lyles finished third in that race to clinch bronze. Although they couldn’t win gold in Tokyo, the future looks bright for the Olympic superpower, with the Paris Olympics just three years away.

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Sanket Nair is an F1 Author at EssentiallySports. A Sports Management graduate, he is a huge fan of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo and hopes to see Red Bull break Mercedes' dominance and win the World Championship soon. Sanket has been hooked to the sport ever since he watched the battle for the 2010 World Championship go down to the wire at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

US Track Stars Tied This Jamaican All-Time Best Record in 2021

USA track stars match impressive Jamaican record in the men’s 200m category

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USA’s male sprinters won three medals in the Tokyo Olympics