YOU can call him the next Usain Bolt. At age 7, U.S. boy Rudolph Ingram Jr. has won over sports lovers after running 100 meters in 13.48 seconds, a U.S. record for his age group. With the nickname Blaze the Great, the youngster who is known for his speedy antics on the track, ran a 14.59 second 100-meter last August. On February 10, he slashed that time by 1.5 seconds when he returned to the track, grabbing attention from experts in the field and social media. According to USA Track & Field, his current performance is an improvement on the current world record of 13:67 for a child of his age. Rudolph, who started training at age 4, also has football skills and has won over sports personalities like Lebron James and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He got onto the news last summer when he won the 100-meter dash and finished second in the 200-meter sprint in his age group at the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) championships. This time around, the 7-year-old sprinter also dashed 60 meters in 8.69 seconds and posted this on his Instagram page run by his father. “I can give him all the tools to be great, but his drive and work ethic and competitive mentality … It sets the bar so much higher,” his father, Ralph Sr., told Tampa’s ABC affiliate. “I have seen him [losing] midrace and just take off and get faster. He does not like to feel like a loser. He wants to win,” his father added. Experts say the three-time Amateur Athletic Union winner could catch up to Bolt in the years to come. In 2009, Bolt recorded the fastest human foot speed during his 9.58-second sprint in Berlin in 2009. The Jamaican Olympian moved at a rapid rate of 27.8mph (44.72km/h) when he covered the 20-meter distance between 60 and 80 meters in 1.61 seconds. Rudolph is not only a sprinter but a fitness model and a social media influencer who has over 300,000 followers on his Instagram page. He is good in academics too, as his February report card posted on social media showed full-mark A grades for Science, Introduction to Computers, Music and Physical Education, plus B grades for Language Arts, Social Studies and Art at Cahoon Elementary School in Tampa. “Work hard in class and on the field,” the Instagram image of his February report card is captioned. The young athlete’s father, who also supervises his workouts, said his child is “a superstar to everyone else.” “He’s my baby. I’m the manager, videographer, trainer, Uber driver … without the tip. The tip is just seeing him happy and loving what he does,” he told Tampa’s Fox affiliate. Rudolph is only 3.39 seconds behind the 17-18 men’s record listed on the USA Track & Field site, and he still has 10 years to train and beat it. His dream? “To get into the NFL,” Rudolph said. But he hasn’t picked a team he wants to play for yet. His dad says the goal now is to let him be a kid, but help him set the stage for his future. He tells his son anything is possible if you don’t give up. (SD-Agencies) | 