EUGENE, Oregon – Quincy Wilson’s driving test will probably have to wait.
He may be too busy this summer to prepare for it.
Wilson, the 16-year-old phenom who captivated fans at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials, will head to Paris as part of Team USA’s 4×400-meter relay pool, his coach confirmed to Yahoo Sports early Monday morning. Bullis School coach Joe Lee said he “received a call from the U.S. Olympic coaching staff to share the news” after the Trials concluded Sunday night.
When USA Track & Field formally unveils its Olympic roster next week, Wilson will become the youngest man ever to make the U.S. Olympic Track & Field team. He is about a year younger than middle-distance runner Jim Ryun, who competed in 1964 at the age of 17 years, 137 days old.
Wilson earned his spot in the relay pool by finishing sixth in the 400-meter final on Monday, capping a breathtaking weekend in which he ran three consecutive sub-45-second laps around Hayward Field.
In his Olympic Trials debut, Wilson broke a 42-year-old under-18 world record when he won his men’s 400-meter heat in 44.66 seconds. That record only stood for two days before Wilson broke it again in the 400-meter semifinals, with a time of 44.59 seconds.
While it would have been a fairytale ending if Wilson had made the top three in the 400 final, his time of 44.94 seconds was still impressive. He chased three of the fastest 400-meter runners in America down the stretch, not bad for a kid who had just completed his sophomore year of high school.
The buzz around Wilson reached a crescendo after those performances. Deion Sanders congratulated him on X. Michael Johnson did the same. Magic Johnson invited Wilson to join him in a suite for a Washington Commanders game.
Now Wilson will also get the experience of going to Paris, which will prepare him for what could be a long career in athletics. Last September, when he was just 15 years old, Wilson signed a NIL deal with New Balance. In April, he signed with WME Sports, the same agency that represents Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
