Divine Iheme has just broken the world record for a 14-year-old sprinter by over two-tenths of a second; his time of 10.3 seconds is nearly a second faster than 2024 Olympic champion Noah Lyles managed to run at his age; Iheme cites Lyles and Usain Bolt amongst his biggest inspirations.
The 14-year-old shaved two tenths of a second – a massive margin in sprinting – off the previous world record for his age group in a recent race at Lee Valley and the teenager already has his mind on bigger accomplishments.
Divine Iheme believes he has a gift from God when it comes to sprinting and if the most recent times, he’s clocked are to be believed then he might well be right.
Even more tellingly, his time of 10.3 seconds was almost a second quicker than the best time the recently crowned Olympic champion in Paris, Noah Lyles, managed at his age.
It’s a staggering statistical comparison, with Iheme improving on his own previous personal best of 10.56 – whilst Lyles ran 11.27 seconds at best before his 15th birthday, and previous record holder Sachin Dennis clocked 10.51.
“When I first saw it, I was in utter shock, I couldn’t believe it! I was jumping about, running around, I just felt so happy, but I couldn’t have done it without God,” said Iheme, speaking exclusively on Sky Sports News.
“Noah Lyles is a great athlete and he’s given me a lot of confidence to pursue this career, run quicker, get a better time’, Iheme stated.
SOURCE: skysports.com