Record-breaking teen sprinter Wyatt Lee is set to be the next Canadian track star on the NCAA DI stage. On Tuesday, the 18-year-old Kingston, Ont., native announced his commitment to North Carolina State University; he will begin his first year this fall.
A rapid rise to the top
In May 2024, Lee debuted in the 100m for his high school, running 11.51 seconds. Within three months, he had lowered his personal best to 10.61 seconds. He went on to medal in 100m and 200m at OFSAA, Ontario’s high school track championships. In March 2025, less than a year after beginning to compete, Lee really turned heads at the Canadian indoor championships, setting a new national U18 60m mark of 6.71 seconds, taking down the long-standing mark of 6.73 (set in 2012).
Lee kicked off his 2025 outdoor season by breaking the Canadian U18 100m record three times in just five weeks. He first ran 10.44 seconds to smash the previous record of 10.46 held by Olympic champion Aaron Brown since 2009, set just a year after Lee was born. Lee went on to take down the 31-year-old Canadian interscholastic record, clocking 10.38 and establishing himself as Canada’s fastest-ever high schooler.
The young sprinter exited the season with a 10.34 personal best and U18 record–which also ranks as the No. 9 U20 performance on the Canadian all-time time list.
Wyatt Lee. Photo: C/O Paul Johnson
Continued success in 2026
At March’s Canadian Indoor Championships, Lee stepped up from the U20 division to face senior pros and Olympians in the men’s 60m; he lowered his personal best twice, running 6.66 seconds in the final to win his first individual senior national medal–a bronze.
Lee’s time of 6.66 makes him the youngest Canadian ever to break 6.70 in the 60m, doing so at 17 years and 295 days old. The performance moves him to fourth on the Canadian U20 all-time list and leaves him just 0.04 seconds shy of Bolade Ajomale’s national U20 record of 6.62. With a year and a half remaining in the U20 ranks, Lee will have a few more opportunities to challenge that mark.
Lee has yet to kick off his 2026 outdoor season.