Phenom.
Added to the 4x400 relay team pool after finishing 6th in the 400 meter finals with a nonqualifying 44.94 time (44.59 in the semis)
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 and his coach, Joe Lee, confirmed reports to ESPN on Monday that the young star had been added to the Team USA relay pool.
"When I got the call, I was like, I was ecstatic," Wilson told ESPN. "I started running around the house. It was just a moment for me because everybody dreams about going to the Olympics as a young kid."
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 4x400 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'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.
Added to the 4x400 relay team pool after finishing 6th in the 400 meter finals with a nonqualifying 44.94 time (44.59 in the semis)
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 and his coach, Joe Lee, confirmed reports to ESPN on Monday that the young star had been added to the Team USA relay pool.
"When I got the call, I was like, I was ecstatic," Wilson told ESPN. "I started running around the house. It was just a moment for me because everybody dreams about going to the Olympics as a young kid."
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 4x400 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'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.
Teen phenom going to Olympics on 4x400 squad
Teenage phenom Quincy Wilson, 16, is headed to Paris as part of the U.S. men's 4x400 Olympic relay squad, his coach confirmed Monday. He's the youngest American male track athlete to appear at an Olympics.
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