EUGENE, Ore. — Quincy Wilson, a 16-year-old rising star in America’s track town, finished sixth in the men’s 400-meter final at Hayward Field on Monday night, missing out on a spot in the event at the 2024 Olympics.
Another Quincy, Quincy Hall, won the event in a personal best time of 44.17. Favorite Michael Norman came in second in 44.41. Chris Bailey finished just behind Norman in a personal best time of 44.42.
Wilson, a sprinting sensation from the Washington, D.C., area, broke the under-18 world record in the 400 meters on Friday when he ran 44.66 seconds in the first round — the high school record he broke stood for 42 years — and then surpassed that mark in the semifinals on Sunday, clocking 44.59 seconds to advance to the finals.
Wilson was trying to become the youngest male athlete ever to make the U.S. Olympic track and field team, and despite Monday’s result, the teenager felt things were more than half-fulfilled.
“To run under 44 minutes three times in a row is pretty amazing,” he said with a smile. “I just know I gave it my all and I’m not going to be disappointed. At the end of the day, I’m 16 years old and I’m running the same times as adults.”
Quincy Wilson:Meet the 16-year-old athletics prodigy
Teenage genius:Quincy Wilson still doesn’t have a driver’s license
Wilson may also be considered for the U.S. team’s 4×400 relay. “You never know what’s going to happen with USATF,” he joked, noting that “this is all new for me.”
“They can nominate someone in the 100, 200, 800 meters. They can nominate anyone they want to nominate,” Wilson said. “As far as I know, they could also nominate a long jumper.”
For safety reasons, he won’t hang up his cleats for the summer just yet.
“I don’t know if the season is over and I don’t want to go get ice cream anytime soon,” said Wilson, who prefers cookies and cream. “Maybe I’ll get that phone call and have to pull myself together. I’ll just keep my head down and pray and hopefully I can make the team.”
Competing against athletes twice his age (and size) and without even having a driver’s license yet, Wilson has set the track and field world on fire. He’s received praise on social media from Snoop Dogg and Deion Sanders, and Norman called the teenager’s performance “incredible” after the semifinals.
“A 16-year-old coming in here and competing like a true competitor, not overestimating the moment and living in the moment,” Norman said of Wilson after Sunday’s semifinal. “It’s great to have a young talent like him push us to be better, push us to be a little faster and take us out of our comfort zone. I think he has a bright future.”
“I was just running for my life there,” Wilson joked after the semifinal. After the final, he said he didn’t run as well as he had hoped, but still spoke highly of his experience.
“I never thought I’d be playing in the biggest final in America,” Wilson said. “I’m really grateful.”
“I am really here.”
High school track and field phenoms rarely show up at Olympic track and field trials, but they do happen. In 2016, 16-year-old Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone qualified for the Rio Olympics by placing third in the 400m hurdles, becoming the youngest athlete in 36 years to be selected for the U.S. Olympic team. (McLaughlin-Levrone is considered a favorite to win the 400m hurdles later this week.) McLaughlin-Levrone was the youngest athlete in 36 years to be selected for the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.
The last high school student to be selected for the men’s Olympic team was Elyon Knighton, who ran the 200 meters at the Tokyo Olympics at age 17. Knighton finished fourth there but won the bronze medal in the event at the 2022 world championships.
Eight years ago, Wilson was 8 years old and competing in the Junior Olympics in Humble, Texas. He was so impressed by the professional runners he saw on TV that he asked his mother, “How can I be like them?”
Wilson ran the 8-and-under 400 meters in 1 minute 6.44 seconds, placing fourth in the meet, and his mother told him that if he worked hard, ran hard and allowed himself to live in the moment, “one day you can be that kid.”
The crowd of more than 12,000 at Hayward Field gave Wilson the loudest cheers when he was introduced Monday. “It was so invigorating,” Wilson said. “Even though I was in lane two, the fans made me forget about it.”
After he crossed the finish line, little kids swarmed him asking for autographs, and he didn’t miss a moment.
“When I signed someone’s shirt today, I was like, ‘I’m really here,'” he said. “It’s unbelievable.”
And that’s probably just the beginning.
Email Lindsay Schnell at lschnell@usatoday.com and follow her on social media. Lindsay Schnell
