For years, track and field was about Noah Lyles, Kishane Thompson, or Christian Coleman, but now the spotlight is on the next generation. You’ve got Quincy Wilson and Gout Gout. And, now, out of nowhere, there is another 16-year-old in the conversation, who is already being called “the next Usain Bolt” after his stunning performance.

At the 2026 Texas A&M Bluebonnet Invitational in Bryan‑College Station on March 6, Texas native Dillon Mitchell, a sophomore at C.E. King High School and standout football prospect, ran a wind-aided 9.88 seconds in the 100 meters.

However, the tailwind of +5.8 m/s was above the legal limit for track and field records (+2.0 m/s). Because of that, the mark doesn’t go into record books as official, but it’s still one of the fastest recorded 100m efforts under any condition for a high school athlete.

For comparison, Noah Lyles ran 9.79 to win an Olympic gold at the Paris Olympics. And Mitchell is running 9.88 at just 16 years old.

No wonder a surprised fan wrote, “16…16… NFW. Check the birth certificate. That is absurd 🤯.”

“I tell him all the time, he’s racing against ghosts,” his father, Billy Mitchell, told ABC‑13. “He’s racing against the guys, the best that have ever done it. Right now, he’s in uncharted waters. He understands that the only limitations are the ones he puts on himself.”

And now, when the video of his 9.88 run went viral on social media, the track and field fanatics could not stop talking.

Track and field fans stunned as Dillon Mitchell inches closer to the greats

“Our guy! 🤞💯” one track and field fan wrote, while another chimed in, “Not surprised at all! He’s been rolling since he was very young!”

And they aren’t wrong…Mitchell isn’t new to the spotlight. When he was just 15 years old, he started turning heads in the U.S. sprint scene by clocking 10.0 seconds in the 100m at the 2025 Region 3‑6A Track Meet.

Fast forward to January 2026, during the early indoor season, and he was already showing high speed at the Texas High School Indoor Championships, running the 60m in the low 6.7s, including a 6.70 final against older high school sprinters. Then came the 2026 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Staten Island on March 1.

The teenage sprinter finished second in his heat, just behind Trayvon Bromell, but still managed to deliver a historic result. He clocked 6.59 seconds in the 60m, setting a new under-18 world record as his time was 0.05 seconds faster than the previous mark held by Tate Taylor.

One more track and field fan added, “Holy smokes. Carl Lewis ran 9.92 in Seoul Olympics.”

And yes, that’s true. Carl Lewis officially clocked 9.92 seconds in the 100 meters at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and that earned him the gold medal after Ben Johnson’s 9.79‑second win was stripped for a positive steroid test. Now, fast forward nearly four decades, and a 16-year-old kid has sprinted into the spotlight.

During the spring and summer of 2025, Mitchell consistently posted 100-meter times under 11 seconds while competing in both high school and club meets. His best marks included a 10.10 with wind assistance and a legal 10.25, according to Athletic.net. As a freshman, he also had strong 200-meter performances, running 20.87 with wind aid and 21.15 under legal wind conditions.

Another fan added, “Incredibly fast for someone so young. Dillon Mitchell is someone we should get to know. The next Usain Bolt or even better.”

And it’s easy to see why! Usain Bolt’s 9.58-second 100m world record, which every sprinter dreams of chasing, came at age 22, fully developed and at his physical peak. So when a Dillon at just 16 is already running sub-10 times, it’s impossible to predict just how fast he could get in the future!

But Mitchell is not only a track star; he is also a football dynamo. He was a sophomore last fall and was a star wide receiver and running back at C.E. King High School, and his team was operating on a 13-win, 3-loss record and went to the state championship. 

Despite still being early in his high school career, according to the Rivals Industry Rankings, Mitchell is considered one of the leading prospects in the state. He sits at No. 100 nationally, ranks eighth at his position, and holds the No. 12 spot among players from Texas. More than 20 schools, including Texas, Houston, Texas Tech, Georgia, Florida, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Tennessee, have already offered him scholarships before his junior season.

As of now, Mitchell wishes to continue with both football and track, and with that, he also has his eyes set on qualifying for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

“I really don’t let anything get to my head… it’s just track,” he told ABC News. I’ve been building for it my whole life. Ever since I really started to take track seriously, it’s just been like it was bound to happen.”

And as things that are bound to happen start falling into place, Mitchell and his parents continue to try to keep things in perspective. The focus at home isn’t on the hype but on making sure he doesn’t rush through these years and still gets to enjoy being 16.