Quincy Wilson: USA’s 16-year-old 400m relay star set for a remarkable Olympic debut

Tthere was never a time in the life of 16-year-old Quincy Wilson that he wasn’t fast. It’s a fact that got him to the Paris Olympics, where, if ESPN sources are to be believedWilson on Friday will become the youngest American male athlete ever to compete at the Games.

Wilson’s mother, Monique, was the first to run after her son when he hit the ground as a 10-month-old baby.

“It was a lot of energy, jumping and running around at a very young age,” says Monique. “And [real] running, like he wanted to be everywhere. I could see he was going to be something.”

Quincy’s father, Roy, a U.S. Navy submarine commander, traveled constantly, leaving Monique to deal with her Tasmanian Devil and his older sister, Kadence, who would later grow up to run for James Madison University. Monique had played soccer in college and knew that sports could fill the hours and burn off some of her son’s boundless energy.

She enrolled a three-year-old Wilson in a local soccer league, where he was noticeably faster and more agile than even the older children. Later, during tag games on the schoolyard, he was always the chaser; the other children rarely bothered to chase him.

“The other kids said it wouldn’t be fair,” says Wilson, who had an unfair advantage. Still, his classmates were easy to catch, so Wilson made it his challenge to catch them as quickly as possible. In his mind, he had already started chasing the clock.

After seeing her son easily outpace his peers at age 7, Monique sought out a more organized group, the Fort Meade Highsteppers, a youth track and field team at the military base in Maryland. As she had hoped, joining the team gave Wilson more opportunities to compete outside their community. The results were immediate. The following year, an eight-year-old Wilson competed fourth place in the 400m in his age group at the AAU Junior Olympics, the largest youth sports tournament in America.

Wilson calls it a pivotal moment, when a small fish ventured into much bigger water and realized he could not only survive, but thrive.

“I think that was my motivation for my next year,” said Wilson, who shaved nearly four seconds off his return to the tournament. “And the year after that, when I was able to come back to the Junior Olympics, I was able to [400m] National Championship.”

Wilson would defend that title for five of the next six years, the only time he didn’t win was when the Covid pandemic hit in the 2020-21 season.

At age nine, Wilson’s family moved from Maryland to Chesapeake, Virginia, where he joined Track 757, another local youth club that met a few days a week and competed year-round. He also played football in high school, where his speed was a boon as a wide receiver and safety. He says he loved both sports equally.

“My parents never made me choose between the two,” Wilson says, “and I think that was a really good thing because it allowed me to take a break from football or track if I needed to.”

Wilson was also inspired by his cousin, Shaniya Hall, who won a national high school title in the 400m and would later run for the University of Oregon.

“My mom would always show me Shaniya’s Facebook posts and how they were all winning national championships,” Wilson says. “My cousin Shaniya, [and 100m sprinter] Eric Allen – they were doing really well, so my mom asked our cousin’s family for advice.”

The decision to move from Virginia back to Maryland was confirmed when Quincy’s father was promoted to a position in the region, reuniting the Wilsons with family and friends.

In the fall of 2022, Bullis track and field coach Joe Lee watched pensively from the sidelines as Wilson suited up for the school’s high school football team. When Wilson developed fluid buildup in his arm, the star athlete was brought to Lee earlier than expected. It would be Wilson’s last season on the field. It wasn’t an easy decision. Wilson’s father had played football for the Naval Academy

“I loved soccer just as much as I loved track and field, but I felt like I had more success with track and field,” Wilson said. “I felt like I grew more with track and field when I started working extremely hard at it.”

There were two things Lee noticed about Wilson during one of their first meetings. The first was clear: Wilson was fast—he ran a 400m split of 45.06 after only a month of practice. Lee’s second observation made him even more hopeful, when Wilson led the school relay team to a second-place finish.

“He wasn’t happy that we came in second, not that he was mad at the team,” Lee says. “He was mad at himself because he thought he could do better. That same year, he became the first freshman to win the [New Balance 400m] national title.”

In 2024, Wilson ran races from 200 to 800 meters – all with success – but the 400 meters has always been his strong point.

He defended his indoor title at the New Balance Nationals in March of this year and became the outdoor 400m champion a few months later. But at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June, he set the under-18 world record in the preliminary heats and bettered that time two days later in the semifinals before crashing out of the race in the final, where he finished sixth.

“He gives it everything he has, every opportunity. He doesn’t waste reps,” Lee says. “He’s very focused on his goals and doesn’t allow himself to put limits or expectations on what he can and can’t do.”

Wilson’s erratic performance at the US Olympic Trials propelled him into the spotlight, where his tenacity – and youth – won over the crowd. Wilson’s effort also made for a great visual effect: the average height of a male sprinter is 6ft 2in. Wilson is 5ft 9in.

“He has long arms and legs [in proportion to his torso],” Lee said. “That’s one of his superpowers, so to speak, but he really gives us everything with the talent that he’s blessed with and he doesn’t see it as a deficit at all.”

Wilson had targeted Paris for his Olympic debut, though his parents felt the 2028 LA Summer Games was a more realistic goal. And while her husband has traveled the world, Monique’s fear of flying has so far kept her from some of her son’s bigger races.

“I mean, it took us all by surprise,” says Monique. “If you had asked us last month what our plans were for the rest of the summer? Yeah, this wouldn’t have been there.”

Wilson didn’t make the team for the 4x400m mixed relay, where the U.S. won silver in a thrilling finish. But he says he’ll be on the team for Friday’s heat of the men’s 4x400m. He’s in good shape, though: He broke his under-18 world record time again on July 19, just days before boarding a flight to Paris. He’s also had a blast as part of the U.S. team, posing for photos with basketball stars like LeBron James – whose sons are older than Wilson – during last week’s opening ceremony

“It was incredibly difficult to get here, but at the end of the day I know that the hard work is the reason I’m in the position I’m in,” Wilson said. “And I think one of my special gifts is that I can go into a workout and know that the hard work that I’m putting in is going to pay off — if it’s not this week, next week, next year, I know that somehow, somehow, I’ve learned a lesson on the court or in life.”