Puripol hailed by World Athletics after 3rd fastest 200m for his age
World Athletics congratulated Thai sprinter Puripol Boonson, 16, on Thursday, after he ran the world’s third fastest 200 metres for his age group – behind only Erriyon Knighton and Usain Bolt.
Puripol broke the Southeast Asian Games and Thailand record to win the 200m gold medal in a time of 20.37 seconds last Sunday.
He then doubled up in Hanoi by winning the 100m gold medal on Wednesday.
World Athletics hailed the Thai sprint phenom’s feat in a Facebook post, noting that only two athletes have bettered his 200m mark at the age of 16. The first is Bolt, while the second is the Jamaican spring king’s anointed successor, Knighton.
Aged 18, American Knighton set the world under-20 record for the 200m on April 30 this year with a time of 19.49 secs at the Louisiana State University Invitational.
Bolt won the 200m at the 2003 World Youth Championships, setting the previous under-20 record with a time of 19.93 secs when he was 17 years old.
Puripol will get a chance to measure himself against those times when he competes in the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Colombia from August 2 to 7.
The Thai prodigy has been tipped as a possible future Olympic medal-winner.
