Texas high schooler Matthew Boling of Strake Jesuit in Houston is just 18 years old, but he turned heads this weekend with a national 100-meter record in all conditions.
The senior finished the sprint in 9.98 seconds, which made him the first American high schooler to break the 10-second mark in six years. According to USA TODAY High School Sports, the time won’t go down as an official record due to a wind aid of 4.2 mph. The high school record without wind aid stands at 10.00 seconds.
Still, Boling’s time was the fastest by a high schooler in any condition, and it would have been good enough to land him in the 100-meter final at the 2016 Olympics.
This was Boling’s run on Saturday:
Boling didn’t even need the best start to leave his competition in the dust. It was a world-class performance.
If you go back to the 2016 Olympics, Boling’s time would have placed seventh in the 100-meter final. His 9.98-second time edged out France’s Jimmy Vicaut who finished at 10.04. To put that in context, Vicaut was running in Lane 5 alongside Usain Bolt (3:05 mark).
Boling’s time would have been right there, finishing .18 seconds off Bolt’s gold-medal showing. It also would have topped Bolt’s Heat 1 time of 10.07 seconds.
So, yeah, this high schooler is fast.
Read more from USA TODAY High School Sports.
