Track star Quincy Wilson will become the youngest male to compete for the United States in track and field at the Olympics in 2024.
The runner and his coach both publicly confirmed that he was added to the Team USA relay pool for the summer games in Paris following an impressive performance as the U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon.
Wilson broke the under-18 world record in the 400 meter that stood for 42 years, only to break the record again in the semifinal two days later.
Despite finishing sixth in the final and failing to qualify for the Olympics, he was added to the USA roster. He was happy about his finish at the time nonetheless.
‘I told my mom, dad, and now, it’s the dream come true.’
“I’ve never been this happy a day in my life when it came to track. I’ve been working for this moment. … That’s 42 years, 42 years of nobody being able to break that record, and I broke it twice in [three] days,” he said, per ESPN.
Coach Joe Lee received the call from the committee responsible for the relay pool selections and immediately played a prank on the young Wilson. When he called the 16-year-old, he pretended that he had bad news.
“I was extremely nervous and then he called me and said just like, ‘Unfortunately, we have some bad news.’ And then he was like, ‘I’m just kidding. We’re going to Paris,'” Wilson explained.
Wilson told ESPN that when he found out the news, he “started running around the house” after realizing his dreams were coming true.
He also posted an image of himself on Instagram with the caption “WE GOING TO THE OLYMPICS.”
The young star from Potomac, Maryland, said he started visualizing his goals at just the age of 8, when he was competing in the Junior Olympics.
“I remember [seeing sprinters] Justin Gatlin and Usain Bolt go head-to-head and I was just like, ‘I want to be up there one day,'” Wilson reportedly said. “I told my mom, dad, and now, it’s the dream come true.”
The high school junior then said he was dreaming about making the Olympics before his third run at the trials in Oregon.
“I was dreaming about it when I was in Oregon about to do my third run. I dreamed about being an Olympian,” he recalled. “It was just being on that Olympic stage, holding that gold medal, and things like that.”
While Wilson will become the youngest male to compete in track for Team USA at the Olympics, the youngest in either gender goes to Barbara Jones.
All the way back in 1952, the Chicago-born sprinter was just 15 when she competed in Helsinki.
Not only did she compete, but she won the 4×100-meter relay race alongside fellow Americans Mae Faggs, Janet Moreau, and Catherine Hardy, according to Encyclopedia.com.
Olympic records indicated that she was also the youngest person to win a gold medal in Olympic track and field at 15 years and 123 days old.
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