PARIS, France (Aug. 7, 2024) – Quincy Hall is officially the fastest men’s 400 meter runner in the world, taking home the Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games on Wednesday night in Paris, France.
Hall clocked a new personal best time of 43.40 to take home the coveted gold medal, coming from behind to pass Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith who ran 43.44. Hall’s time of 43.40 was recorded as the fifth fastest 400m time in track & field history. With the gold medal, Hall becomes the first-ever Gamecock male to win an Olympic gold medal in the men’s 400m and just the second male ever to win gold, joining Otis Harris who secured the 4×400 meter relay gold for Team USA in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
Hall made his way to the finals on Wednesday after coasting through the first two rounds. The former NCAA 400-meter hurdle champion opened his Olympic debut with a time of 44.28 on Sunday, Aug. 4, winning his heat and advancing to the semifinal round. Hall then stopped the clock at 43.95 in the semifinals, winning his heat yet again and setting up his gold-medal performance.
Hall’s medal represents the first medal for the Gamecock men since Jason Richardson claimed silver in the 2012 London Olympic Games, while representing the seventh consecutive Olympics that a Gamecock track & field alum has brought home a medal. Hall joins Tonique Williams-Darling as the only Gamecocks in history to have captured the gold medal in the 400m, with Williams-Darling doing so for the Bahamas in the 2004 Athens Games.