Who is Matthew Boling, the athlete who reached a historic Carl Lewis mark

carl lewis make history with Los Angeles Olympics 1984where he won four gold medals and emulated the unprecedented success of Jesse Owens in Berlin 1936. But the “Son of the Wind”, a real -life legend of world athletics, also achieved his own record at that event, as he became the first athlete in history to lose 10 seconds in the 100 meters, 20 in the 200 and exceed 8 meters in the long jump . In 38 years, he was the only one to achieve similar records in those three trials. But the weekend matthew bowlinga 21-year-old college student, matched that success and wrote his name next to one of the greatest of all time.

Within Georgia Tech Invitationalang “White light” (white lightning), as he already knows, ran the 200 meters at 19.92 – the third fastest time of the season – and completed the “trio” of times that allowed him to reach Lewis ’record. A week before, at a contest held in Florida, he registered a 9.98 on the hectometer. And in mid -January he jumped 8.25 meters in an indoor conference in Clemson, South Carolina (in April last year, he jumped 8.02, his best outdoor record).

Scholarship for University of Georgia, where he is in the third year of a career specializing in Business, the Texan, 1.88 meters tall and 78 kilograms, is the great sensation of American university athletics. It caused so many revolutions at that level that the chain was famous Dunkin’s Donuts he was selected as one of two college athletes – one being the North Carolina basketball player leave kelly– with whom he signed a sponsorship contract for the first time.

In the area where the company exists in the United States, you can now order a menu named in its honor, consisting of an iced coffee with salted caramel foam, a wrap egg whites without cheese and a glazed donut.

Born in Houston on June 20, 2000, Boling inherited his passion for athletics from his mother Monique, who trained triathlon at the amateur level. Ever since he was young, his great talent in sports set him apart from his twin brother Michael, who was always good academically.

In high school, Matthew proved to be a great football player, but he started to excel in 400-meter and high jump events. Until it crossed his mind to try the speed tests and in April 2019 he was surprised when he ran 100 meters in 9s98 to become the fastest high school student in history. It was a very windy day, so the time was not validated.

A few weeks later, at a tournament at the University of Texas, he confirmed that his speed had little to do with the wind, as he clocked 10s13 at the same distance and set the level record. “high school”. At that point, he already had a record of 8.01 meters in the long jump, which he achieved in March of that year.

Those presentations caught the attention of the University of Georgia, which offered him a full scholarship to join their track team. And he didn’t waste it. From his first season at that institution, he was able to establish seven records at the university, among them three marks where he matched Lewis, who after the Los Angeles Games improved his records and came to run in 100 meters at 9.86, the 200 at 19.75 and a jump of 8.87 meters.

While shining on the college courts, Boling has already begun to build his career in the colors of his country. In 2018, he won a silver medal as part of the US 4×400 relay Tempere U20 World CupFinland.

And in 2019, he hung four golds on Pan American Championship of the same category played in San José, Costa Rica. There, he climbed to the top of the podium in the 100 (10s11) and 200 meters (20s31) and in the 4×100 and 4×400 relays, where he set new U20 world records with his teammates.

Disciplined and “sick of order”, Boling knows full well that successes are achieved with effort. “If you’re not number one, nothing happens, keep working,” the Texan said.

It was also clear about his long -term goal: When he was a child, he told his parents that one day he would compete in the Olympics. A dream that, judging by what he shows every time he steps on a track, doesn’t take long to come true.