British 14-Year-Old Sprinting Sensation Is Faster Than Usain Bolt

British 14-Year-Old Sprinting Sensation Is Faster Than Usain Bolt

What's got two legs, boy-band hair and runs faster than a cheetah with rockets on its feet? Why it's Ryan Gorman – Britain's answer to Olympic sprint supremo Usain Bolt.

And if you don't think the comparison is justified, think again. For the 14-year-old schoolboy is actually faster than the world's greatest runner.

The teenager, from Codnor, Derbyshire won the 200 metres at the England Under 17 Indoor Championships in 21.76 seconds - the quickest Under 15 time run by a European athlete and 0.05sec faster than Usain Bolt at the same age.

"I didn't think I would be able to run under 22 seconds, so it was just amazing," Ryan said, of the February event.

"I couldn't believe it, actually. I thought it must be wrong. Then my coach told me I was faster than Usain Bolt at the same age, which was just amazing."

Ryan now hopes to run even faster before he's 15 on April 9. Darrel Brown holds the world Under 15 record of 21.20 sec, set in 1991.

"I'm excited to think what I can run outdoors," Ryan said. "But there's a lot of work still to do and I'm going to grow more.

"I've always loved running. It was the only thing I watched during the Olympics and the only thing I watch on TV, really."

There is no sprinting pedigree in the family, apart from a gold medal Ryan inherited from his mother Rebecca's grandfather, Roland Brislin, for the 100-yard dash.

But Ryan and his brother Callum, 13, have always enjoyed sport. Ryan likes fishing and go-karting but has had to shelve a promising football career because he was getting treated too roughly.

"People realised he was quick and he was getting a lot of stick," said his dad, Lee.

"The risk of injury was too great so Ryan had to choose one or the other and he chose athletics."

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