Latest news with #DivineIheme
Times
27-07-2025
- Sport
- Times
Japanese child prodigy runs 100m in 10sec to break U18 record
A 16-year-old Japanese schoolboy has signalled his arrival as another global sprint prodigy by clocking 10.00 seconds for the 100 metres at a meeting in Hiroshima. Sorato Shimizu's time is a world best for under-18s, surpassing the 10.06sec mark set by American Christian Miller, then 17, in 2023. The run means Shimizu also has the qualifying standard for the World Championships in Tokyo in September, and he rises to joint fifth on Japan's all-time list. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. Rising stars have been breathing new life into the sprint scene over the past year with Gout Gout, an Australian of Sudanese heritage, breaking Peter Norman's 56-year-old 200m domestic record. In June, he then lowered his 20.04sec to 20.02 on his international debut in the Czech Republic. His status is such that his desire to race at next year's Commonwealth Games has been hailed in the Australian media as a 'dagger to the public' after Victoria pulled out of staging the event. It will now be held in Glasgow. While Jamaica and the United States have traditionally dominated the men's spring scene, plenty of other countries are now nurturing athletes with huge potential. Last year, Great Britain's Divine Iheme, nicknamed 'Lightning' by his mother, recorded a time of 10.30 to set a world best for 15-year-olds. In January he set another age-group global best for the 60m indoors. The times compare favourably when put alongside the best of any age and era. Usain Bolt started life as a 200m runner, so his teenage times for the 100m can be misleading, but it is fact that his best as a 20-year-old was only 10.03, albeit that he would make a seismic leap in 2008. Noah Lyles, the present Olympic champion, had a best of 10.45 as a 16-year-old. Lyles also clocked 10.00 when competing in the London Stadium last week. As a barometer of brilliance, the fastest man in the world this year is Jamaica's Kishane Thompson with 9.75. Shimizu's time makes him joint 29th in the world this year. Shimizu's run came at the Inter High School Athletics Meet and eclipsed a 12-year-old high national school record. 'I'm so glad I could get in the 10.00 range,' he told the Japan Times. Japan has never won an Olympic sprint medal. Transitioning from outstanding prospect to senior star is a potted road that has seen many fall by the wayside, but the junior ranks are undoubtedly flushed with exciting talents as we get deep into the athletics summer.
BBC News
11-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
The British sprinter who was faster than Lyles and Gout at 14
When Divine Iheme ran the 100m in 10.3 seconds as a 14-year-old last summer, he set a world put that time in context, Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles' personal best at the same age was about one second slower, while Australian sprint prodigy Gout Gout clocked 10.57.A year on, Iheme holds the 60m indoor world record for 15-year-olds, which he set in he has much higher ambitions."I can see myself with an Olympic title to my name in the 100 and the 200, and hopefully it will happen," says Iheme, who is nicknamed 'Lightning'.Born in Oxford as the third son of two Nigerian former international sprinters, Iheme was born to run fast - and his mum spotted it early on."I knew when he was in my tummy," says Nkiruka Divine, who is not just his mum - but also his coach. "When I was pregnant, he kept on kicking."I am an athlete, his dad and my dad [were athletes]. When he entered primary school, that's when we finally said: 'Yes, we got a talent here we have to nurture.'"Iheme is competing this weekend at the English Schools Athletics Championships, where he is targeting more success. 'There would always be this big gap' Having initially tried gymnastics, Divine turned to athletics when he was seven years old - and soon noticed he was different from his peers."In the 75m race in primary school, there would always be this big gap," he says."I'd always look back saying: 'Did I run that?' It felt kind of weird to me."Having run for fun alongside other sports, things became more serious after he impressed at the English Schools Athletics Championships in 2023."I was 13 and won [the 100m] in 11.7 seconds," he said. "I was like: 'This is what I want to do.'" 'Once we enter the track, I don't look at him as my son' After competing at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Nkiruka served for nine years in the British Army, which she says influenced her as a of Divine's potential, she and her husband Innocent founded the PWD Athletics Academy in Oxford, where their son trains four times a week."It's tough, very tough. I can't escape any sessions," the teenager says, smiling."He knows that once we enter the track, I don't look at him as my son," Nkiruka says."I have to get down to business, so I take off motherhood and bring in the coach.""She knows me more than anyone because I'm her son," Divine chips in."She knows how to critique me well; which bits I'm stronger at and which bits I'm weaker at so it's really good."Her training is what got me those two records." 'I'm aiming to get my 200m much, much quicker' Iheme says he grew up watching videos of Usain Bolt's record-breaking performances over 200m at the World Championships in Berlin, admires Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo, and has been following closely the times posted by Gout."He's doing great. I saw his recent 20.2, and I was really happy for him," he and Gout may one day go head to head for athletics' biggest prizes, but for now the Briton is focused solely on self-improvement."I'm hoping to run a PB of 10.2 or even lower," he says."And I'm aiming to get my 200m down much, much quicker. Sub-21."Despite his obvious talent, Iheme remains what many would regard as a typical teenager."I like to watch Netflix. I love binge watching," he importance of remaining grounded can't be overstated. The athletics world is littered with countless examples of talented juniors who never transitioned to top-level seniors."Many of us who have been in athletics for a long time understand that it's a marathon," says 2010 world indoor champion Dwain Chambers."It's about teaching the athletes skills on and off the track… it's a case of nurturing at the right time."
