High school phenom Quincy Wilson is on his way to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Wilson will be a part of the men’s 4×400-relay pool for Team USA’s track and field squad. Wilson now becomes the youngest male U.S. track and field Olympian ever after his superb performance at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Eugene, Oregon. The young runner received the news Sunday, Wilson’s coach Joe Lee confirmed to USA TODAY. The team won’t formally be announced until July 8.
“The call came directly to me from USA Track & Field,” Lee told USA TODAY. “I called Quincy afterwards with the good news.”
Wilson took the track and field world by storm at the Trials. The 16-year-old wonderkid broke the under-18 world record in the opening round of the 400, blazing one lap around the track in 44.66 seconds. The high school record he broke stood for 42 years. Then Wilson bested the time in the semifinals Sunday, running a 44.59 to qualify for the finals. In the final, the 16-year-old from Bullis High School in Maryland missed out on the three automatic qualifying spots when he finished in sixth, running a 44.94.
Quincy Hall won the 400, running a personal best 44.17. Michael Norman finished second at 44.41, and Chris Bailey got the third and final automatic qualifying spot with a time of 44.42.
“Three consecutive sub-44s is just amazing,” Wilson said in Eugene. “All I know is I gave it everything I had, and I can’t be disappointed. At the end of the day, I’m 16 running grown man times.”
Wilson had told reporters after the 400 he was going to keep praying about making the team and hold off on junk food this summer.
“I don’t know if my season is over yet, I don’t want to go eat ice cream too soon,” Wilson said after running the 400. “I could be getting that call and have to regroup. I’m just gonna keep my head down and keep praying on it and hope I make the team.”
Wilson’s hopes and prayers were answered. He probably won’t be eating any ice cream for a while.
Quincy Wilson broke out as one of the top stories at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials. Just managing to land in the nine-person field for the 400m men’s field with athletes twice his age was incredibly impressive for the 16-year-old sophomore. He also broke the U18 men’s world record while at the Trials.
Despite a slow start, Wilson willed himself from ninth place to sixth in the final stretch, missing out on the top three, but finishing in a spot that could keep his Paris Olympic dream alive. It wasn’t the first time Wilson made a comeback this year. In May, he twice brought his team back from the brink in the 4x400m relay as Bullis’ anchor runner at Penn Relays.
Wilson could still become the youngest male track and field athlete to go to the Olympics. Here’s how.
Is Quincy Wilson Going To The Olympics? The straight-forward answer is: maybe. Wilson’s job is done, having already achieved the Olympic Qualifying Standard, but his fate is now in the hands of the USATF National Selection Committee and the U.S. Olympic Track and Field coaches. Wilson could be added to the pool for the 4x400m men’s relay or the mixed 4x400m relay. The U.S. Track and Field team can take seven runners for the 400m to the Olympics: three qualifiers, two for the 4x400m relay, and two for the 4x400m mixed relay.
With multiple sub-45 times, Wilson is in a good position to take a spot, but because the U.S. 400m talent pool is so deep, it’s ultimately up to the committee and coaches who will fill the 4x400m relay.
Men’s 400m Final Results:
Quincy Hall – adidas – 44.17 (Q)
Michael Norman – NIKE – 44.41 (Q)
Chris Bailey – Tracksmith – 44.42 (Q)
Vernon Norwood – New Balance – 44.47
Bryce Deadmon – NIKE – 44.61
Quincy Wilson – Unattached – 44.94
Khaleb McRae – Alabama – 45.06
Matthew Boling – Unattached – 45.15
Justin Robinson – Arizona State – 46.08
For those in the United States, NBC and its group of networks will provide extensive coverage of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for track and field, which will include more than 20 hours of programming (qualifying, semifinals, finals). Coverage will begin on the USA Network and Peacock on Friday, June 21 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, and the action will continue at 9 p.m. EDT on NBC and Peacock. Coverage will end on NBC on Sunday, June 30 at 7:30 p.m. EDT.
Broadcast Schedule (All Times Eastern):
Friday, June 21: Finals: USA Network, Peacock (6:30-9 p.m.), Finals: NBC, Peacock (9-11 p.m.)
Saturday, June 22: Finals: NBC, Peacock (9-11 p.m.)
Sunday, June 23: Finals: NBC, Peacock (8:30-11 p.m.)
Monday, June 24: Finals: NBC, Peacock (8-11 p.m.)
Thursday, June 27: Finals: NBC, Peacock (8-11 p.m.), Heats: Peacock, 11-11:45 p.m.
Friday, June 28: Finals: USA Network, Peacock (8-10 p.m.), Finals: NBC, Peacock (10-11 p.m.)
Saturday, June 29: Finals: NBC, Peacock (8-10 p.m.)
Sunday, June 30: Finals: NBC, Peacock (7:30-8:30 p.m.)
Leading up to the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials and Summer Olympics, and during the competition, FloTrack will provide insight, features, highlights and more.
Teenage sprinting sensation Quincy Wilson is set to become the youngest ever US male track Olympian after the 16-year-old announced he had reportedly been picked in the 4×400 meter relay roster for this year’s Olympic Games in Paris. Sharing the news on his Instagram on Sunday, Wilson wrote: “WE GOING TO THE OLYMPICS,” while also sharing multiple posts reporting that he’d made the team. Wilson’s coach Joe Lee also confirmed the news to both the Washington Post and USA Today.
“The call came directly to me from USA Track & Field,” Lee told USA Today. “I called Quincy afterwards with the good news.” USA Track & Field declined to confirm the news to CNN, saying that the full team roster – including the relay pool – will be officially announced on July 8.
Wilson’s selection comes after a brilliant debut at the US Olympic Trials last week, where he twice broke a 400m world record. Despite failing to qualify for the 400m, finishing sixth in the final, Wilson still ran an under-18 world record of 44.59 seconds in the semifinals on Sunday, two days after he initially broke the record with a time of 44.66.
“I don’t know if my season is over yet, I don’t want to go eat ice cream too soon,” Wilson said after the 400m race, before discovering he had made the relay pool. Born in 2008, Wilson has quickly established himself as one of the most promising rising stars in track and field. The sprinter seems to break a record whenever he runs and now looks set for a chance to prove himself on the world stage.
He has yet to earn his driver’s license, but 16-year-old track phenom Quincy Wilson has earned himself a chance to go to the Paris Olympics this summer. Competing against elite athletes nearly twice his age in the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Eugene, Ore., the high school sophomore broke the under-18 world record in the 400 meters—a mark that dated back 42 years—when he ran a 44.66 in the first round on Friday. Then on Sunday, he surpassed his own mark with a 44.59 finish to advance to Monday’s final.
In front of an energized crowd at Hayward Field on Monday night, Wilson, donning his singlet from Bullis High School in Potomac, Maryland, finished sixth in the final with a time of 44.94 seconds, denying him an automatic bid to Paris. Winner Quincy Hall finished in a personal-best 44.17 seconds to qualify, followed by Michael Norman (44.41) and Chris Bailey (44.42).
While those three will represent the U.S. in the 400 in Paris in less than a month, Wilson’s opportunity to join Team USA at the Summer Games is not lost. He could still become a 2024 Olympian if he is selected for the U.S. relay pool, a decision made by the men’s relay coach Mike Marsh and a USA Track & Field selection panel after trials are complete. In addition to the three men who qualified for the individual 400-meter event, the U.S. can bring four more runners: two for the men’s 4×400-meter relay and two for the mixed relay. For Tokyo, for example, the top seven finishers in the 400-meter final at U.S. trials were all selected as part of the relay pool.
“I can’t be disappointed,” Wilson said after Monday’s final. “At the end of the day, I’m 16 years old running…grown-man times.”
A sophomore at Bullis High just outside of Washington D.C., Wilson wore his school’s singlet at trials. If selected for the relay pool, Wilson will become the youngest American male to make the Olympic track and field team, and the first 16-year-old since Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone qualified for the Rio Games in 2016. Any preparation for that driver’s license will also have to wait.
“It’s spectacular,” said Tokyo 4×400 relay gold medalist Norman, after the semifinal race. “A 16-year-old coming out here, competing like a true competitor, not letting the moment get too big but living in the moment.”
Quincy Wilson is set to become the youngest male American track Olympian after being selected for the U.S. 4×400 meter relay team. Announcing the news on Instagram, the 16-year-old wrote: “WE GOING TO THE OLYMPICS #paris2024 #teamusa.” While the team will not be formally announced until later this month, Wilson’s coach Joe Lee told USA TODAY that the teenage sensation received the news Sunday.
“The call came directly to me from USA Track & Field,” he told the newspaper. “I called Quincy afterwards with the good news.” Wilson, a student at Bullis School outside Washington, D.C., had a remarkable performance at trials, setting — and subsequently besting — the world-record for under-18 runners.
“I’ve never been this happy a day in my life when it comes to track,” Wilson said after he broke the record in the 400-meter semifinals. Justin Robinson, an American, had held the under-18 world record for the 400-meter dash prior to Wilson’s runs during trials. Robinson ran 44.84 seconds in 2019, when he was 17 years old. Wilson beat Robinson’s record on June 21, running 44.66 seconds. He beat his own new record on June 23, running a 44.59 during the semifinals.
Wilson was just seconds shy of making the team as an individual runner last week, after finishing sixth in the 400-meter final. Nevertheless, Wilson’s already-historic trials experience only improved after he was named to the relay team. Before him, the youngest American male track athletes to qualify for the Olympics were Jim Ryun and Erriyon Knighton, both of whom were 17 when they became Olympians. Ryun and Knighton both made their respective debuts at the Tokyo Olympics, 57 years apart. Ryun made his debut in 1964, and Knighton in 2021. Knighton will also be in Paris after qualifying in the 200 meter Saturday.
Source: USA TODAY, Washington Post, CNN
