* Erriyon Knighton made history on Sunday by becoming the youngest male teenager on the U.S. team since 1972
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports/Register Guard/Chris Pietsch
"I did good. I'm on the team. I'm 17. I can't complain with that."
Erriyon Knighton's first performance on Friday was a statement. His second on Saturday was validation. And his third and final on Sunday was confirmation that the Tampa, Florida native made history.
The 17-year-old high school student claimed his ticket to Tokyo with a third-place performance in the men's 200m final at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, on Sunday in a new career best, and World U20 record, of 19.84 seconds, pending ratification.
"I did good. I'm on the team. I'm 17. I can't complain with that," Knighton said in the post-race press conference.
He will become the first high schooler since 1972 to represent the United States at the Olympics. He will be the youngest male on the team since 1964, joining the likes of Jim Ryun. And he's the first teenager since the turn of the century to make the men's team.
Knighton's three-day run has been nothing short of remarkable. He ran a career-best time of 20.04 seconds on Friday, lowering his World U18 best.
On Saturday, he became the first American teenager to ever go under 20 seconds, claiming a new World U20 record with a time of 19.88 seconds.
It didn't matter that Knighton carried his historic torch well into midnight, eastern time, on Sunday.
Those who followed him from his stomping grounds in Florida saw the rising Tampa Hillsborough High School senior solidify his position within the United States team, finishing just behind Noah Lyles in 19.74 and Kenny Bednarek in 19.84.
Before Saturday, no high school student had ever broken 20 seconds. In back-to-back nights, the adidas-backed Knighton achieved that feat twice.
Knighton's 19.84, at the age of 17, was 0.25 seconds faster than Lyle's high school national record in 2016, when the T.C. Williams athlete was 18. The Florida teenager turned pro in January following a sophomore class record of 20.33 seconds in the 200m at the AAU Junior Olympics.