After turning heads at the recent U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon, 16-year-old Quincy Wilson will have the opportunity to do the very same in Paris later this summer.
Wilson’s coach, Joe Lee, confirmed reports to ESPN on Monday that the young star had been added to the Team USA relay pool.
Lee received a phone call late Sunday night from the committee responsible for the relay pool decisions. They made the request for Wilson to be “ready to run any leg at any time.”
Although failing to qualify for the 400 meters at the trials, the young sprinter will be part of the U.S. team that gets sent to Paris to run the 4×400 relay. A rising junior at Potomac, Maryland’s Bullis School, Wilson will be the youngest American male track athlete to appear at an Olympics.
Wilson announced the news himself on Instagram late Sunday, writing in all caps: “WE GOING TO THE OLYMPICS.”
Wilson’s addition to the relay pool came after he ran under 45 seconds in three separate 400-meter heats at the trials last week. Following a preliminary round that included him breaking the under-18 world record that had lasted for 42 years, he set another under-18 world record time two days later in the 400-meter semifinal.
“I’ve never been this happy a day in my life when it came to track. I’ve been working for this moment,” Wilson said minutes after his 44.59-second semifinal. “That’s 42 years, 42 years of nobody being able to break that record, and I broke it twice in [three] days.”
A day later, Wilson ran a 44.94-second time in the finals, but finished sixth, failing to qualify for the Olympics in the event.
In the days that followed, some around the sport pleaded for his inclusion in the relay pool, nonetheless.
“He deserves it,” said Rai Benjamin, Olympic 400-meter hurdler and member of the gold medal-winning U.S. 4×400 relay in Tokyo. “The kid came out and ran 44s all three rounds.
“I’m not worried about him on the technical side of things, because he’s run multiple 4x4s, and he and his coach know how to keep it simple. He deserves it. The kid ran freaking well all weekend.”
Source Agencies
