PARIS, France (AFP) — A Japanese teenager has equalled the world junior 100m record, running 10.01sec at a meeting in Hiroshima, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said on Monday.

Yoshihide Kiryu’s time in the heats of the Mikio Oda Memorial meeting is the same as that clocked by Trinidad and Tobago’s Darrel Brown in 2003 when he was 18, and makes him the fastest ever 17-year-old over the straight sprint.

It also brings him closer to the senior Asian record of 9.99sec, set by the Nigerian-born Qatari Samuel Francis in Amman in 2007 and the Japanese record of 10sec flat set by Koji Ito in 1998.

Kiryu, who stands just shy of 5ft 9in tall (1.75 metres) — nearly four inches shorter than his hero Usain Bolt of Jamaica — already holds the world youth 100m record of 10.19sec.

The youngster’s record-breaking run came in the heats. He followed up with 10.03sec in the final, the IAAF said on its website iaaf.org.

Kiryu, referred to in some circles as the Japanese Bolt, will continue to run as a junior next year.