Who is Quincy Wilson? Meet the teen sprint sensation breaking records at 16 and set to become the youngest male U.S. track Olympian ever
Blink and you just may miss 16-year-old Quincy Wilson speeding past you on the track.
Or, perhaps you’ve already missed the teen’s meteoric rise up the international ranks in recent months.
The Maryland-based Wilson has been turning heads (eyes open or not) in athletics for the last couple of years, but the first part of 2024 has seen him spring a whole other level up, with the American setting a new junior world record in the indoor 400m.
He clocked a 45.76 at the New Balance Indoor Nationals in Boston last month, in a time that would have been good enough for fourth place at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships – at the senior level.
He is set to be a surprise addition to Team USA for the coming Olympic Summer Games Paris 2024.
The teenager finished sixth with a time of 44.94 in the 400m final behind Quincy Hall. Despite failing to make the team as an individual sprinter, he is set to become the youngest male U.S. track Olympian ever as part of the 4x400m relay squad if sleected.
Quincy Wilson: Record breaker
Wilson, who attends Bullis School in the Washington, DC, suburbs, made headlines with his aforementioned indoor 400m record, but the 16-year-old has been setting never-done-before marks in a myriad of ways.
In 2022, when he had yet to turn 15, Wilson won a fifth national AAU Junior Olympic Games title, successfully defending his crown in the 400m. He did so with a 47.59 in the semi-finals, which broke Obea Moore’s 30-year-old under-14 national record in the U.S.
In January of 2024, he set a new indoor 500m world record for 18 and under, clocking a 1:01.27 at the VA Showcase.
He’s also shown speed in the 200m, and, earlier this month, he clocked a 1:50.44 to win the 800m at an event in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Outdoors, Wilson’s 45.19 in the 400m at the Florida Relays (29 March) was the fastest time in the U.S. (at any level) of the year, and the sixth-fastest time in the world for 2024.
Headed for U.S. Olympic Trials
That 45.19 was especially important for Wilson as it automatically qualified him for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, set for late June in Eugene, Oregon.
Now, with a qualifying time (and qualifying age; the minimum is 16 years old), that “I may” could turn into an “I am,” especially if Wilson could add depth to the dangerous men's 4x400m relay team. This he did.
The high schooler had a great weekend at the Trials. he ran three 400m races under 45 seconds, including an under-18 world record that had stood for 42 years of 44.59 in the semi-finals.
If he is confirmed in the U.S. Team Wilson will be 16 years and 200 days old by the time of the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony, and if he does compete, he will overtake Arthur Newton (17 years 165 days) as the youngest track and field athlete to represent the US at the Olympic Games.
Noah Lyles praises Quincy Wilson
After Wilson’s jaw-dropping performance in Boston, reigning sprint king Noah Lyles, the world champion in both the 100m and 200m, tweeted in response to the video of Wilson’s race: “He is HIM!” in regard to Wilson.
Wilson would like to be side-by-side with Lyles come this summer. He told Citius Magazine in Boston he has the self-belief to do so.
“I’ve looked up to [Lyles and Fred Kerley] for a long time,” Wilson said after his record-breaking performance. “But now I think it’s my turn. I hope I can make the [Olympic relay] team.”
Inking an NIL deal at 15
Last September, Wilson had already caught the attention of brands in the athletics world, and signed on with New Balance for a name, image and likeness deal, making him one of the youngest high school athletes to ever do so with a major sports apparel company.
Wilson joins the likes of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Coco Gauff as New Balance athletes, snapping a photo alongside McLaughlin-Levrone (see above) in 2023 when he was just a freshman at the New Balance Indoors.
Social media savvy
Wilson’s content game is strong. Are you surprised? The 16-year-old already has over 40,000 followers on Instagram, and he’s started a YouTube channel where he vlogs from his meets – and gives behind-the-scenes tours of practice, life off the track and, yes, his NIL visit to New Balance.
He loves playing Fortnite, sipping on a lemonade, indulging in sweets and goofing around with teammates.
But for Wilson and his burgeoning career, it's just the beginning.
“It’s nowhere close to over,” Wilson says in one of his videos. “We’ve gotta keep grinding.”