This 15-Year-Old Sprinting Phenom Could Be On Team USA At The 2020 Olympics
Kayla Davis is a name to remember.
A 15-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina, Davis is a track and field phenom.
In June, she set a world record at the New Balance Nationals, clocking a 51.17 in the 400-meter dash.
It was the fastest time ever run by a 15-year-old, and it would’ve been good enough for sixth place in the women’s 400m finals at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
US HS #7 all-time 400m 51.17 for Kayla Davis! #NBNationals pic.twitter.com/oKPxzhxMg3
— RunnerSpace.com (@RunnerSpace_com) June 16, 2019
Davis also recently won gold in the 400m at the Under-20 Pan American Championships, where she competed against talent several years her elder.
A sophomore at Providence Day School (North Carolina), Davis won’t turn 16 until December. Yet there’s reason to believe she’ll be competing at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Four-time Olympic medal winner Ato Boldon, who, along with Davis’s parents, serves as one of her coaches, believes it can happen.
“I told her mother last year that this young lady could make the Olympic team for the United States in 2020,” Boldon told OZY.com.
“(Her talent) could be record-breaking. This could be world-beating.”
Boldon sees some similarities in form between the 5-foot-10 Davis and the 6-foot-5 Usain Bolt. Davis made some amazing progress over the past year, shaving nearly two seconds off her 400-Meter Dash PR.
“Working out with Ato (Boldon) has helped greatly. Lifting weights has been fun, as this is my first year (doing that),” Davis told RunnerSpace in February.
“I want to keep setting records as I go on with running and inspiring other youth athletes to work hard and have fun with the things they love doing”.
Photo Credit: Mark Brown/Getty Images
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This 15-Year-Old Sprinting Phenom Could Be On Team USA At The 2020 Olympics
Kayla Davis is a name to remember.
A 15-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina, Davis is a track and field phenom.
In June, she set a world record at the New Balance Nationals, clocking a 51.17 in the 400-meter dash.
It was the fastest time ever run by a 15-year-old, and it would’ve been good enough for sixth place in the women’s 400m finals at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
US HS #7 all-time 400m 51.17 for Kayla Davis! #NBNationals pic.twitter.com/oKPxzhxMg3
— RunnerSpace.com (@RunnerSpace_com) June 16, 2019
Davis also recently won gold in the 400m at the Under-20 Pan American Championships, where she competed against talent several years her elder.
A sophomore at Providence Day School (North Carolina), Davis won’t turn 16 until December. Yet there’s reason to believe she’ll be competing at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Four-time Olympic medal winner Ato Boldon, who, along with Davis’s parents, serves as one of her coaches, believes it can happen.
“I told her mother last year that this young lady could make the Olympic team for the United States in 2020,” Boldon told OZY.com.
“(Her talent) could be record-breaking. This could be world-beating.”
Boldon sees some similarities in form between the 5-foot-10 Davis and the 6-foot-5 Usain Bolt. Davis made some amazing progress over the past year, shaving nearly two seconds off her 400-Meter Dash PR.
“Working out with Ato (Boldon) has helped greatly. Lifting weights has been fun, as this is my first year (doing that),” Davis told RunnerSpace in February.
“I want to keep setting records as I go on with running and inspiring other youth athletes to work hard and have fun with the things they love doing”.
Photo Credit: Mark Brown/Getty Images
READ MORE: