Asinga, a Montverde Academy graduate and Texas A&M signee, becomes fastest 18-year-old athlete in global history with wind-legal 9.89 performance in Brazil, setting South American all-time mark and eclipsing 9.91 race by Botswana’s Tebogo at last year’s World U20 Championships in Colombia

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Issam Asinga, 18, made quite an impactful first impression representing Suriname at the 53rd South American Championships at the National Olympic Centre Track in Sao Paulo, Brazil, producing the World Under-20 record Friday in the men’s 100-meter dash.

Asinga, a graduate of Montverde Academy in Florida and a Texas A&M signee, ran a wind-legal 9.89 seconds in the final to capture the title, eclipsing the all-time mark of 9.91 set last year by Letsile Tebogo of Botswana at the World U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia.

He also became the first prep athlete to achieve a wind-legal sub-10 performance, improving the 2014 effort of 10.00 achieved by Trentavis Friday at the U.S. Junior Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

American sprinter Trayvon Bromell ran a wind-aided 9.77 at age 18 at the 2014 Big 12 Championships in Lubbock, Texas.

Asinga, who had run four wind-aided sub-10 performances this year including a 9.83 effort April 23 at the PURE Athletics Spring Invitational in Clermont, Fla., also took down the South American record of 10.00 held since 1988 by Brazilian competitor Robson da Silva.

Asinga clocked a wind-legal 10.03 in the semifinals to lower the meet record of 10.06 set in 1999 by Brazil’s Andre Domingos da Silva.

Erik Cardoso ran a Brazilian record 9.97 to place second in the final, with Ronal Longa achieving a Colombian all-time mark by clocking 9.99 to take third.

Asinga was born in the United States, but grew up in Zambia, the birth country of his mother Ngozi.

His father, Tommy Asinga, was a three-time Olympian and still holds Suriname national records in the 400, 800 and 1,500.

Asinga added a 200-meter championship Sunday in a wind-legal 20.19, after clocking 20.63 in the prelims.