NBC News reports that 16-year-old Quincy Wilson read, "WE GOING TO THE OLYMPICS" in an enthusiastic Instagram post he made on Sunday, declaring his successful effort to become the youngest American male track star ever to compete at the Olympics in Paris.
Joe Lee, Quincy's coach, confirmed to USA Today that Quincy would compete in the men's 4x400 event, but the official announcement of the Team USA relay squad is not expected until next Monday. "The call came directly to me from USA Track & Field," Lee points out. "I called Quincy afterwards with the good news."
At the age of seventeen, Jim Ryun competed in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and Erriyon Knighton in the 2021 Olympics were the two youngest male track stars prior to Quincy. In his first trial in the United States, Quincy broke two records: On June 21, during the quarterfinals, he ran the 400-meter sprint in 44.66 seconds, breaking the record set by an under-18 athlete. Then, in the semifinals two days later, he ran a time of 44.59 seconds, shattering his own personal best. With a finals time of 44.94 seconds, Quincy was unable to secure an automatic entry as an individual runner in the 400-meter sprint.
Adding to his Monday Instagram story photo, Quincy reportedly captioned it, "[I'm] an Olympian." (People). Meanwhile, according to Nielsen, NBC had its highest viewership for US track trials in 12 years thanks to Quincy's participation last month, along with musician Snoop Dogg and sprinter Noah Lyles.
Joe Lee, Quincy's coach, confirmed to USA Today that Quincy would compete in the men's 4x400 event, but the official announcement of the Team USA relay squad is not expected until next Monday. "The call came directly to me from USA Track & Field," Lee points out. "I called Quincy afterwards with the good news."
At the age of seventeen, Jim Ryun competed in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and Erriyon Knighton in the 2021 Olympics were the two youngest male track stars prior to Quincy. In his first trial in the United States, Quincy broke two records: On June 21, during the quarterfinals, he ran the 400-meter sprint in 44.66 seconds, breaking the record set by an under-18 athlete. Then, in the semifinals two days later, he ran a time of 44.59 seconds, shattering his own personal best. With a finals time of 44.94 seconds, Quincy was unable to secure an automatic entry as an individual runner in the 400-meter sprint.
Adding to his Monday Instagram story photo, Quincy reportedly captioned it, "[I'm] an Olympian." (People). Meanwhile, according to Nielsen, NBC had its highest viewership for US track trials in 12 years thanks to Quincy's participation last month, along with musician Snoop Dogg and sprinter Noah Lyles.
