Fastest Kid on the Planet? This 7-Year-Old Is Just 1.5 Seconds Behind Usain Bolt

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From the archives: This story was last updated in March 2019.

At just 7 years of age, Rudolph “Blaze” Ingram has already achieved a feat that many people couldn’t possibly attain in a whole lifetime. He’s been dubbed the “fastest kid in the world,” the “next Usain Bolt,” and has more than 500,000 followers on his Instagram.

According to the Daily Mail, Ingram is only 1.5 seconds slower than Usain Bolt after a recent video showed him running 100 meters in just 13.48 seconds. Another interesting stat was that the boy, from Florida, had beaten his personal record of 14.59 seconds in August 2018. The kid can also dash 60 meters in 8.69 seconds.

Though his track times are not completely known, the fact that he is way ahead of his peers is unquestionable. In a video posted on Instagram, Ingram is seen darting across the track in a kit designed with a fire flame, which complemented his nickname, and a pair of orange-and-blue Nike sneakers.

In a photograph captioned: “My Father Told Me (@ftf_kool ) That You Win Mentally Before You Win Physically I’m #1 Before The Race Start,” the determined look of Ingram as he positions himself on the racetrack becomes apparent.

His dad, who manages his Instagram account, wrote in a caption: “Proud To Say My Son Maybe The Fastest 7 Year Old In The World. To The Top Love All Those Hours Of Training Payed Off.”

Ingram’s success can be partly attributed to his father, who is an American Football coach. His dad has introduced him to NFL stars Tarik Cohen, Matt Jones, and De'Anthony Thomas.

“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,” Rudolph Sr. told ABC Action News.

“I have seen him lose mid race and just take off and get faster. He does not like to feel like a loser. He wants to win,” his father added.

Ingram has smashed U.S.A. Track and field records for his age group, and even adults who challenged him were left staring at defeat. “It feel great, anyways I trained for it,” Blaze said.

Apart from sprinting, the boy has got football skills too. He caught the eye of basketball player LeBron James, who noticed young Ingram use his football skills; LeBron then decided to help him use these skills on the track and vice versa. Little Ingram shot to fame soon after that as his Instagram account boasted fans from all over the world.

The three-time Amateur Athletic Union winner is an all-rounder; his academic grades show that he is a performer off the field too. An Instagram post of his February report card was captioned, “Work hard in class and on the field.”

“This is my baby, I’m overly proud of him. He makes me so proud,” said Rudolph Sr. “I don’t like saying it, but I feel like he’s a one in a million child. I don’t like saying it because he’s my child but I definitely feel like he does great things.”

Ingram’s dad tells him that anything is possible as long as he doesn’t give up. For now, his dad says that he is just focused on letting his son lead a normal life as a kid and not get distracted by all that’s happening around him.