Matthew Boling

Matthew Boling (born June 20, 2000) is an American track and field athlete specializing in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and long jump events. He won four gold medals at the 2019 Pan American U20 Championships in the 100 m, 200 m, 4 × 100 meters relay and 4 × 400 meters relay, and helped set world under-20 records in both of the relay races for the United States. He also ran in the semi-final for the American 4 × 400 m relay team at the 2018 World U20 Championships that went on to earn silver in the final.

Matthew Boling

Personal information
Born	June 20, 2000[1] United States
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[2]
Sport
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	Sprints Long jump Relays
College team	Georgia Bulldogs (2020)[3]
Coached by	Petros Kyprianou (since 2019)[4]
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	100 m: 9.98 (2019, wind-assisted) 200 m: 20.31 (2019) 400 m : 45.51i (2019) Long jump: 26' 3.5" (8.01 m) (2019)
Medal record Men's track and field Representing the United States World U20 Championships 2018 Tampere 4×400 m relay Pan American U20 Championships 2019 San José 100 m 2019 San José 200 m 2019 San José 4×100 m relay 2019 San José 4×400 m relay
Updated on January 29, 2020.

Boling gained national attention during the Spring of 2019 for his accomplishments in high school track competitions. In March, he leaped the farthest in the long jump for a high school athlete in ten years with a 26' 3.5" (8.01 m) mark at the Texas Relays,[5] and then bested the high school all-conditions 100 m record, breaking the 10-second barrier with a wind-assisted 9.98 seconds run on April 27, 2019. Boling finished his high school track career in May at the Texas state championships by running a 44.74 second anchor in the 4 × 400 m relay for the Strake Jesuit Crusaders, coming from behind to win in the fastest time for a high school team in the nation that year (3:10.56).[6][7]

Biography

Boling gained national attention when he ran a wind-aided 9.98 seconds 100 m in the Region 6A-3 track meet on April 27, 2019.[8][9] Boling set the national high school record of 10.13 s the next month.[10] Boling has been nicknamed "White Lightning", although he has stated that he does not like the moniker and would prefer just "Matt".[11][12]

Representing Strake Jesuit College Preparatory school in Houston, Texas, Boling set many records in Texas UIL track and field competition.[13] An all-around sprinter and long jumper, he ran one of the fastest 400 m splits in American high school history with a 44.74 leg at the Texas UIL 6A state championships.[14][15][6][7]

Gatorade awarded Boling its National Boys Track & Field Player of the Year honors for 2018–19.[16] He joined University of Georgia's Georgia Bulldogs track and field team in late 2019.[17][18][4]

Statistics

• Information from World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.[1]

Personal records

Event	Time / Mark	Wind (m/s)	Venue	Date	Notes
100 m	10.11	+0.5	San José, Costa Rica	July 19, 2019
	9.98 w	+4.2	Webster, Texas, U.S.	April 27, 2019	Wind-assisted
200 m	20.31	-0.8	San José, Costa Rica	July 20, 2019	WU20L[19]
	20.30 w	+2.3	Miramar, Florida, U.S.	June 23, 2019	Wind-assisted
400 m (relay split)	44.5	N/A	San José, Costa Rica	July 21, 2019	[19]
Long jump	26' 3.5" (8.01 m)	+1.8	Austin, Texas, U.S.	March 29, 2019
4×100 m relay	38.62	N/A	San José, Costa Rica	July 20, 2019	WU20R[note 1]
4×400 m relay	2:59.30	N/A	San José, Costa Rica	July 21, 2019	WU20R[note 2]

International competitions

Year	Competition	Position	Event	Time	Wind (m/s)	Venue	Notes
Representing the United States
2018	World U20 Championships	1st (semi 3)	4×400 m relay	3:05.57	N/A	Tampere, Finland	WU20L, Q[note 3]
2019	Pan American U20 Championships	1st	100 m	10.11	+0.5	San José, Costa Rica	PB
		1st	200 m	20.31	-0.8		WU20L, PB[19]
		1st	4×100 m relay	38.62	N/A		WU20R[note 1]
		1st	4×400 m relay	2:59.30	N/A		WU20R[note 2]

National championships

Year	Competition	Position	Event	Time / Mark	Wind (m/s)	Venue	Notes
Representing the Strake Jesuit Crusaders
2018	U.S. U20 Championships	6th	Long jump	23' 11.5" (7.30 m)	-1.0	Bloomington, Indiana
		6th	400 m	46.59	N/A
2019	U.S. U20 Championships	1st	100 m	10.15 w	+2.3	Miramar, Florida	Wind-assisted
		3rd	Long jump	25' 3.5" (7.71 m)	+1.9
		1st	200 m	20.36	+0.7		PB

Notes

1. Shared with Arian Smith, Justin Ofotan, and Marcellus Moore for the United States.[21][22][23]
2. Shared with Frederick Lewis, Matthew Moorer, and Justin Robinson for the United States.[22][23]
3. The team with Boling qualified for the final, but he did not run with the team in the final; However, the team that ran in the final finished 2nd, so Boling earned a silver medal for his contribution.[20]

References

1. "ATHLETE PROFILE Matthew BOLING". World Athletics. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
2. "MATTHEW BOLING". Georgia Bulldogs. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
3. "MATTHEW BOLING (FR-1) GEORGIA". TFRRS. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
4. Vitale, Joe (July 11, 2019). "Track and field superstar Matthew Boling explains why he signed with Georgia". USA Today. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
5. Nichols, Lee (March 30, 2019). "Sprinter/Jumper Boling Is The Talk Of High School Track". Track & Field News. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
6. Redford, Patrick (May 12, 2019). "Matthew Boling's 100-Meter National Record Wasn't Even His Most Stunning Performance". Deadspin. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
7. Nichols, Lee (May 2019). "Texas State Boys — Matthew Boling Creates New Legend". Track & Field News. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
8. McNulty, Matt (May 14, 2019). "Teen Runner Known as 'White Lightning' Breaks 100-Meter High School Record". People. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019 – via PEOPLE.com.
9. Mack, Gordon (April 27, 2019). "Matthew Boling Breaks High School All-Conditions 100m Record In 9.98!". FloTrack. FloSports. Archived from the original on April 28, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019 – via flotrack.org.
10. Kussoy, Howie (May 13, 2019). "'White Lightning' stuns again for high school 100-meter record". New York Post. Archived from the original on May 20, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019 – via nypost.com.
11. O'Kane, Caitlin (April 30, 2019). "Teen nicknamed "White Lightning" runs 100-meter dash in 9.98 seconds — fast enough for the Olympics". CBS News. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019 – via cbsnews.com.
12. Kilgore, Adam (June 3, 2019). "Matthew Boling went viral for his track success. His life has changed 10 seconds at a time". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
13. Sondheimer, Eric (May 12, 2019). "Matthew Boling sets national record in the 100 meters in Texas". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019 – via latimes.com.
14. "Matthew Boling - Track and Field Bio". Athletic.net. Retrieved July 6, 2019.
15. Dawson, Alan (April 30, 2019). "A teenager from Texas nicknamed 'The Boogie Man' just ran 100 meters in 9.98 seconds, a time that would be good enough for an Olympic final". Business Insider. Archived from the original on May 1, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019 – via businessinsider.com.
16. Coleman, Adam (June 28, 2019). "Strake Jesuit's Matthew Boling wins Gatorade National Boys Track Athlete of the Year". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved July 6, 2019.
17. Matthew Boling. GeorgiaDogs. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
18. Jiles, Jodie B. (April 3, 2019). "Strake Jesuit track star Matthew Boling raises eyebrows". Defender Network. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019 – via defendernetwork.com.
19. "Pan-Am Junior Champs — U.S. Relays Run Rampant". Track & Field News. August 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
20. "4 x 400 Metres Relay Men - Round 1" (PDF). International Association of Athletics Federation. July 14, 2018. p. 3. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
21. Boren, Cindy (July 22, 2019). "Matthew Boling, the viral video track star, anchors a record-setting relay run". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
22. Dutch, Taylor (July 21, 2019). "Track Phenom Matthew Boling Leads Two Relay Teams to U20 World Records in Two Days". Runner's World. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
23. Robinson, Javier (July 22, 2019). "Boling leads weekend of three world U20 records at Pan American U20 Championships". World Athletics. Retrieved January 29, 2020.

External links

• Matthew Boling at World Athletics
• Matthew Boling profile at TFRRS