Quincy Wilson is poised to become the youngest American track and field Olympian after being selected for the U.S. 4×400-meter relay team.
Announcing the news on Instagram, the 16-year-old wrote: “LET’S GO TO THE OLYMPICS #paris2024 #teamusa”.
While the team won’t be formally announced until later this month, Wilson coach Joe Lee said USA TODAY that the teen sensation received the news on Sunday. “The call came directly to me from USA Track & Field,” he told the newspaper. “I called Quincy later with the good news.”
Wilson, a student at Bullis School outside Washington, DC, performed remarkably well in the trials, setting – and later surpassing – the world record for runners under 18.
“I’ve never been happier in my life when it comes to track,” Wilson said after breaking the record in the 400-meter semifinals.
Justin Robinson, an American, held the under-18 world record in the 400-meter run before Wilson’s races during the trials. Robinson ran 44.84 seconds in 2019 when he was 17 years old.
Wilson beat Robinson’s record on June 21, running 44.66 seconds. He broke his own new record on June 23, clocking 44.59 in the semi-finals.
Wilson was seconds away from making the team as an individual runner last week after finishing sixth in the 400-meter final.
However, Wilson’s already historic Test experience only improved after he was named in the relay team.
Before him, the youngest American track and field athletes to qualify for the Olympics were Jim Ryun and Erriyon Knighton, both 17 years old when became Olympic athletes.
Ryun and Knighton made their respective debuts at the Tokyo Olympics, 57 years apart. Ryun made his debut in 1964 and Knighton in 2021. Knighton will also be in Paris after qualifying in the 200 meters on Saturday.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
