Bullis School's Quincy Wilson breaks 42-year-old track & field world record (video)
Bullis School sprinter Quincy Wilson has had himself quite a week at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials in Oregon.
Two times in three days, Wilson has broken the under-18 world record in the 400 meter finals, vaulting him into Monday evening 400 meter final where he has an opportunity to secure a spot on the 2024 U.S. Olympic which will compete in Paris later this summer.
In the first round of qualifying, Wilson ran 44.66 to break a record set by Darrell Robinson in 1982. In his semifinal heat, Wilson broke his own newly minted record by posting a time of 44.59.
"I've been working for this moment," Wilson told reporters following his semifinal performance. "Forty-two years... that record stood for 42 years! It means a lot to me to be able to break it. I've been staying longer after practices, coming in before practices... I'm just excited for myself."
Wilson's semifinal time is fourth best among qualifiers heading in Monday's final (6:59 p.m. PT), so to be one of the three Olympic qualifiers he may need to break his record again. The three fastest times all belong to a former Olympians, Michael Norman, Vernon Norwood and Quincy Hall (reigning world bronze medalist). If he succeeds in qualifying for Paris, Wilson would be the youngest U.S. Olympic track & field team member since Cindy Gilbert, who competed in the 1972 Games in Munich, Germany.
16 YEAR OLD Quincy Wilson just broke his own U18 World Record and High School record in the 400m with a 44.59. WHAT??!?! 2 World Records by Quincy in 2 days.
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) June 24, 2024
pic.twitter.com/WBkuqvHccJ
"All I'm doing is heart," Wilson said of his breakout season. "Most 16-year-olds would get scared when it comes to the big competitors, so I'm running for my life out there. Vernon? He's 32. I'm half his age."
Wilson is confident he can do even better in the final to give himself the best possible shot of making the U.S. team.
"I have a lot of things that I can do to improve for the final. That was the first thing that we did after [the semi]... the things I gotta do for the final. We're not caught up in the moment. I think I have great things for the final. I can't wait for it."
Wilson is no stranger to world class times.
In March, he ran 45.76 at the New Balance Indoor Nationals in Boston. That time would have been good enough to place him fourth, at the senior level, at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships. In 2022, he ran 47.59 while winning his fifth National AAU Junior Olympics title in the 400 meters and broke a 30-year old under-14 national record, previously owned by Obea Moore.
GARY ADORNATO