Team USA sprinter Quincy Wilson returns to his native Maryland as an Olympic gold medalist.
He also returns as a high school student.
“Wow, I really learned a lot in two and a half weeks!” Wilson, 16, wrote on X after accepting her gold medal in the 4X400 relay on Saturday.
Wilson, the youngest male track and field athlete competing for the U.S., is preparing to enter his junior year of high school at Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland.
Obviously that’s going to make things a little strange, considering he’s already competing with the best runners in the world at a time when he’s still worried about homework and getting to class on time.
Wilson’s post on X went viral after he became the youngest male Olympian in U.S. history.
“Those ‘what did you do on summer vacation?’ conversations are going to have different outcomes lol,” user X joked.
“Give up, you’re an Olympian,” added another.
Despite her historic showing in Paris, not to mention her gold medal, Wilson’s performance is something she would certainly like to improve upon.
Wilson left the United States in a distant seventh place after her first lap in the opening round of the 4×400 relay on Friday.
The Americans, who usually dominate this event, needed a comeback from Christopher Bailey on the last lap to qualify for the final. The team finished third with a time of 2 minutes and 59.15 seconds.
There was a gap of almost 3 seconds between Wilson and Letsile Tebogo, Botswana’s 200m champion, who was replaced at the last moment. Wilson was picked up by veteran teammates Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and Bailey.
“I wasn’t 100 percent, but my team came out and did it for me,” Wilson said. “I knew I had a great team behind me and I knew it wasn’t just me. Because if it was me, we’d be in last place. But these guys came out and gave it their all. … They ran their hearts out.”
Quincy Wilson of the United States prepares to start in the first round of the men’s 4 x 400-meter relay
Fortunately for Team USA, Rai Benjamin held off Letsile Tebogo in the closing stretch to give the Americans a gold medal and an Olympic record in the final without Wilson, who was replaced on Saturday.
“I timed that race really well,” Benjamin said. “I have a really good ‘track IQ’ on people and how they run and how to run a fast time, so I didn’t have to push myself too hard – I just saved the time to get home.”
Benjamin added this Olympic title to the one he had won in the 400m hurdles the night before and prevented 200m champion Tebogo from giving Botswana another victory over the Americans.
It was Tebogo, the 21-year-old sprint sensation, who stole the spotlight — and gold — from the U.S. in the 200 on Thursday, relegating Kenny Bednarek to silver and Noah Lyles, who tested positive for COVID-19, to bronze.
The American quartet of Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and Benjamin completed the four laps in 2 minutes, 54.43 seconds, nearly a second faster than the time run by the U.S. 4×400 team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. And Saturday’s time was just 0.14 seconds shy of the world record set by the United States in 1993.
It’s the 19th gold medal for the Americans in the 26 editions of this relay at the Summer Olympics. No other country has more than two golds in the men’s 4×400.
“Team USA has always had dominance in 4x4s,” Bailey said, “and we just wanted to continue that.”
Though he didn’t compete in the final, Wilson also earned a gold medal, making him the youngest U.S. male athlete to win a track medal at any Summer Olympics. Wilson left the Americans a distant seventh after his first lap on Friday, but Bailey’s strong support leg allowed the team to qualify.
On Saturday, Botswana were a tenth of a second behind, with Tebogo joined by Bayapo Ndori, Busang Collen Kebinatshipi and Anthony Pesela.
Great Britain came third in 2:55.83.
“Coming into the U.S. trials, we know what to expect. That’s the hard part; this is the easy part,” Benjamin said. “So coming here and believing in ourselves and trusting each other — that’s what makes this work, what makes us so successful, when it comes to these world championships.”
That victory was followed shortly after by a much easier one for the United States in the women’s 4×400 relay, which brought the athletics section of the 2024 Olympic Games to a close.
Vernon Norwood of the United States takes over from his teammate Quincy Wilson
With his performance Friday, Wilson became the youngest American to compete in the Olympics in track and field. He surpassed Arthur Newton, a steeplechase runner from 1904 who competed at age 17, according to Olympic historian Bill Mallon. Other young runners who competed in the Summer Games include Jim Ryun, who was 17 when he qualified for his first Olympics in 1964, and Erriyon Knighton, who arrived in Tokyo three years ago as a 17-year-old.
Norwood was caught up in the moment… until he got the baton.
“I see a 16-year-old kid racing in the Olympics, making history,” Norwood said. “I just look at him and think, ‘Get back in action and let me take over and get it going.'”
Norwood told Wilson before heading out onto the court to enjoy the moment.
“I’m super proud of him,” Norwood said.
It’s been a busy summer for Wilson, who already has a name, image and likeness deal with New Balance and postponed getting his driver’s license so he could race in Paris.