The USA men’s 4×400-meter relay team managed to qualify in the opening round on Friday by finishing third, but the first leg run by 16-year-old Quincy Wilson put them at a disadvantage over the final three laps.
The youngest American male to ever compete in a track event at the Olympics, Wilson said his seventh-place finish on the first leg will be something he keeps in mind moving forward.
“It’s going to be motivation for me,” Wilson said to ESPN about his race.
Wilson ran a 47.27-second 400m lap, well below the sub-45 times of 44.66 and 44.59 seconds in the qualifiers that broke U18 records and placed him in the relay pool.
Vernon Norwood took the baton and ran a blazing 43.54 time, moving the U.S. a spot and putting them back into the running for qualification. Bryce Deadmon ran his heat in 44.20 and Christopher Bailey anchored at 44.14 to get third place.
16-year-old Quincy Wilson officially makes American history as the youngest male track & field athlete to compete at the Olympics for Team USA. 👏 #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/aiOH18oRzr
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) August 9, 2024
Despite Wilson’s slow start, Norwood said he was impressed by Wilson making history in competing.
“Honestly, I was kind of in the moment, because I’m watching a 16-year-old run an Olympics, making history,” Norwood told ESPN. “So I was very proud of him, and I’m just looking at him like, ‘Oh, snap back in and let me get this thing going.'”
Wilson credited his teammates.
“They got me around the track,” Wilson said. “My grit and determination got me around the track. I knew I had a great three legs behind me. I knew it wasn’t just myself [Friday], because if it was myself, we would be in last place.”
In placing third in the heat, Team USA automatically qualified for the next round. See the results here.
