16-year-old Quincy Wilson has made headlines after breaking the under-18 record with an impressive 44.66 seconds in the first round of the 400 meters at the recently held Olympic trials and surpassing that only two days later with a time of 44.59 seconds.
After winning the first round of the trials, Wilson told USA Today, “I’m just running for my life out there. I have a lot of things I can do to improve myself. I’m in the world’s biggest final coming up. At 16 years old, I’m ecstatic right now. …It’s one of the happiest days of my life.”
The Bullis School student has now gained a place in the U.S. 4 × 400-meter relay team, making history as the youngest male U.S. track & field athlete to make an Olympic team, per NBC News. The trailblazing teen celebrated on social media with the caption, “WE GOING TO THE OLYMPICS #paris2024 #teamusa.”
Wilson’s coach, Joe Lee, revealed to USA Today that the team received confirmation from USA Track & Field ahead of the official announcement later this month. Lee said, “The call came directly to me from USA Track & Field. I called Quincy afterwards with the good news.”
The teen’s achievements are extraordinary; he now holds records previously set by Jim Ryun in 1964 and Erriyon Knighton in 2021, both of whom qualified for the Olympics at 17 years old.
According to the Washington Post, Wilson’s parents relocated to Gaithersburg from Chesapeake, Virginia, so that their son could attend Bullis, knowing the school’s reputation for developing athletes.
Both of his parents were collegiate athletes: his mother, Monique, was a basketball and soccer standout in high school and college, while his father, Roy, played football at the Naval Academy. Kadence, his older sister, is a James Madison University track athlete and a former Virginia state champion. Shaniya Hall, his cousin, was a talented runner at Bullis who later joined the D1 track team at the University of Oregon.
The industrious teenager keeps straight As at school. Even with their demanding training schedules, his track team maintain an average GPA of 3.9 in school.
The teen is also represented by a major clothing business, having signed a NIL deal with New Balance in September 2023.
Following his historic accomplishment, Magic Johnson invited Wilson to attend a Commanders game in his hometown this season.
“I would love to invite @QuincyWilson5 and his family to sit in the suite with me and watch the Commanders play this season,” the legend wrote.
