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Team USA may already have the Olympic champion in the 400m after Quincy Hall stormed to gold to deny Matt Hudson-Smith in the men’s final on Wednesday.
But America already has the next superstar in waiting for the iconic event and perhaps the sport overall as 16-year-old Quincy Wilson looks set to make his debut at the Olympics.
After bursting onto the scene at the US track and field trials in June, an appearance on Friday in the 4x400m relay team is on the cards, according to his coach.
Joseph Lee told Yahoo Sports that Wilson will lead off the US quartet. While the teenager posted on Instagram: “Tune in Friday Morning @ 5:05 a.m. est,” hinting at his first appearance at the Games.
Wilson, from Maryland, is set to take part in the morning session, with the USA due to line up in the first heat.
Wilson was not selected by US relay coach Mike Marsh to run a leg in the mixed 4x400m relay last Friday or Saturday. Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon, Shamier Little and Kaylyn Brown would go on to set a world record in the heats before winning a silver medal in the final.
And it appeared unclear if Wilson would sit out the Games entirely or serve as an alternate in the overall relay pool.
But Wilson will now race in Round 1 on Friday morning 11:05am local time, and in doing so will become the youngest American male athlete to have ever participated in a track and field event at the Olympic Games.
Wilson is almost a year younger than middle-distance runner Jim Ryun, who ran at the 1964 Games aged 17 years and 137 days old.
Wilson didn't qualify for the individual 400m at the trials, finishing fourth, but was added to the Team USA relay pool.
"When I got the call, I was like, I was ecstatic," Wilson said. "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."
Wilson has broken the Under-18 world record twice at US trials, including an effort of 44.59 seconds. Wilson then cut his personal best further three weeks ago to 44.20 seconds.
Wilson, who is the world’s 11th-fastest man in the 400m this year, attends Bullis School in the Washington, DC, suburbs.
Wilson has been on the rise in recent years and won a fifth national AAU Junior Olympic Games title, defending his own 400m title.
He ran 47.59 seconds in the semi-finals, which put him in the US record books, taking down Obea Moore’s 30-year-old Under-14 national mark.
