As I was in the security line to enter Hayward Field, I got a text from one of my old Franklin High School in Seattle teammates, Charles “Cheese” Smith, who was watching the Olympic Trials from his home on the East Coast.
Cheese’s excited text said that Quincy Wilson of Bowie, Maryland, just set a new national high school record in the 400 meters, running 44.66 in the second heat, breaking the 41-year-old record of 44.69 set by Darrell Robinson of Wilson High School in Tacoma, Washington.
Not only that, but the 16-year-old sophomore broke the world under-18 record of 44.84 set by Justin Robinson of Hazelwood West HS in Hazelwood, Missouri, in 2019. The time also got him under the Olympic standard of 45.00.
“To be honest, I felt like I had nothing to lose. I’m working extremely hard for this moment,” said Wilson.
“I know that my training, my coaching, and everybody has me in the right position, so I’m just coming out here and executing each race.”
Wilson, whose reputation is already known to high school fans, caught the attention of folks who don’t follow the sport at the prep level when he ran a 44.37 split in the 4 x 400 relay at the Penn Relays in late April.
With the semifinals on Sunday at 6:35 p.m. local time, Wilson has a legitimate shot at making the finals and putting himself in contention for a spot on Team USA’s 4 x 400 relay pool.
From rewatching his race, Wilson has more poise than the normal high school athlete thrown into the biggest stage in the sport, a fact that 2022 world champion Michael Norman, who got fifth in the 200 meters as a high school student in 2016, backed up.
“When you come to a meet like this that carries so much weight, it’s easy to get star-struck and let the moment get too big”, said Norman, who won the fifth heat of the 400 in 45.31.
“It seems like he’s mature enough as an athlete to approach this championship as a competitor, and 100 percent hat’s off to him.”
Wilson is one of nine high school athletes competing at the Trials.
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