Teen Track Star Quincy Wilson Can Still Achieve His Paris Olympics Dream

The 16-year-old fell short of an automatic bid, but he still has a chance to earn a ticket to this summer’s Games.

If selected for Paris, Wilson will become the youngest American male to make the U.S. Olympic track and field team. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA

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).

Quincy Hall DIGS DEEP down the homestretch to win the Olympic Trials 400m final in the fastest time by an American this year! #TrackFieldTrials24 pic.twitter.com/iaeLxrH7Lp

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) June 25, 2024

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 4x400-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. / Craig Strobeck-USA TODAY Sports

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 4x400 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.”