Divine Iheme has obliterated the world 100m best for his age group, running 10.30 (1.7) at Lee Valley (August 26).
The teenager, known as ‘Lightning’ Divine’, was already the fastest 14-year-old over 100m in the UK and had a personal best of 10.56 from the England Athletics U15 & U17 Open Championships last month.
Lightning’ is coached by mum Nkiruku Iheme, who is the founder of the PWD Athletic Academy – created to help kids realise their potential through athletics – in Oxfordshire.
Both of his parents – his dad is Innocent Iheme – represented Nigeria at international level, including the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
Divine’s talent was previously recognized in April when he set UK best times for the 100m and 200m.
He also beat his best 100m effort in June with a time of 10.65s and has crossed the line even faster, only to miss out on the record books due to wind-assisted races.
However, his incredible feat at Lee Valley this week will go down in history.
The teenager has also previously stated that he watched and studied both Usain Bolt and Allyson Felix growing up.
The Oxfordshire-based athlete told Sky Sports: “I’ve watched quite a lot of Usain Bolt’s races and Allyson Felix’s 200m, 400m and relays.
“Probably the first race I watched, was his [Bolt’s] world 200m world record, the 19.19, and I was inspired to pursue the dream.”
In that same interview Iheme, who was born in Nigeria, added that he wanted to represent Great Britain in the future “because they have helped me the most”.
