Japan teen sprinter Sani Brown added to Beijing squad

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan have added 16-year-old sprinter Abdul Hakim Sani Brown to their squad for this month's World Athletics Championships in Beijing, making him the youngest athlete to represent the country at senior level. Born in Fukuoka to a Japanese mother and Ghanaian father, Sani Brown, broke championship records on his way to two gold medals at the world youth championships in Colombia last month. He clocked 10.28 seconds in the 100 metres and 20.34 in the 200, the second bettering the mark set by Usain Bolt in 2003, for the sprint double. "With the chance I have now, I'd like to go toe-to-toe with the top-class sprinters across the world," the youngster was quoted as saying by the Kyodo news agency on Tuesday. At the age of 16 years and five months, the second-grade student at Josai High School in Tokyo is five months younger than Megumi Sato, who competed in the women's high jump event at the 1983 championships in Helsinki. "He shows more potential the tougher the opposition gets. He's different in competitions and always surpasses our expectations," his high school coach Takahiko Yamamura added. The World Athletics Championships are being held at the Beijing National Stadium in the Chinese capital from Aug. 22-30. (Writing by Sudipto Ganguly in Bengaluru; Editing by John O'Brien)