Becoming Quincy Wilson isn’t easy. The athlete always needs to battle with situations. How? Last year, he became the youngest American track and field athlete to claim the Olympic gold in decades. At 16, he secured his position in the Paris Olympics berth by going beyond his abilities. In the Olympic trials, he had to compete against senior athletes coming with loads of athletes. He lost the fight on the track, though. But his 400m performances making places in the age-based record book in the same supported his claim. He earned a place in the track and field coaches’ voices and eventually the ticket for his maiden Olympics. But are those all? 

No. Quincy Wilson isn’t a superhuman. He sheds sweat and bleeds like all other athletes. After a memorable track season, he had to taste the bitter pill on his opening race this season. In the Virginia Showcase, Andrew Salvodon edged him in the 500m short track event. The Olympic champion failed to find a way to win the race. But things had been different last year. In 2024, Quincy opened his season in the same race at the VA Showcase. The result was beyond expectations. He took 1:01.27 to win the event. The phenomenal fact is that the timing poses the second fastest US age group all-time feat. And this year, he took 1:02.49 to conclude the race. A downhill journey? You can guess. But the story has a few more parts. 

On January 24, Quincy Wilson received another threat. This time it came from a top high school half-miler who had been in his career’s first indoor race. And what did he do? 

The updates claim that Cooper Lutkenhaus won the 800m event at the Texas Tech Invite. He took 1:50.15 to complete the race. The timing has been framed as the high school national leading time. But how could it be challenging to Quincy Wilson? Well, the Bullis High School attendee has had a few memorable outings in the event. Remember his outing at the Beach Run Invitational in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina? 

In the Beach Run Invitational last year, Quincy Wilson engaged with Colin Abrams in a hard battle in the 800m race. He went past his teammate in the final 100 m. Before that, the race had been set in an equal measure for both athletes. In the end, Wilson edged Abrams, clocking 1:50.44. At 16, Wilson set the second-best timing in the nation. Lutkenhaus, however, has had a few similarities with Wilson on that measure. 

Like the Olympian, he is also adept at generating the last-minute surge on the pace. He followed that strategy in the 800m event at the Texas Tech Invite. In the final 80m, Lutkenhaus’s infamous kick earned him the upper hand over the chasing athletes, Ayman Zahafi and Nathan Cumberbatch. Ultimately, he ended the race just 0:00.15 seconds ahead of Zahafi and 0:00.73 seconds ahead of Cumberbatch. But wait! Doesn’t that make three potential rivals for Quincy Wilson in the upcoming days? The Chesapeake native might need to make a lot of effort in the coming days to save his status. The 17-year-old has a special place among the budding athletes in the 800m event. Here is an example. 

Quincy Wilson will need to engage in a fight to save his status 

Quincy Wilson is much away from the 800m event. He is all set to enter the men’s 600m indoor event at the 117th Millrose Games. Currently, his timing of 1:17.19 in the event settles him at the No. 2 position in the US all-time list. In the Millrose Games, he will try to go beyond that mark. Well, he has Will Sumner’s high school national record (1:15.58) in front of him to topple. But does he remember his followership among the budding athletes in the 800m event? Last year, something came as an example. 

Last year, Chris Chavez took an interview with Gunnar Hammett. The then sixth-grade runner took 2:00.69 to cross the finishing line in the 800m race in the New Balance Nationals Outdoor. A phenomenal feat without any doubt! But was there any motivation for working on Gunnar in posting such an outstanding time? The teenager took Quincy’s name in front of Chris. He said, “I try to run like him [Quincy Wilson]. Actually, he’s the reason why I run full speed the first 200 all the way up to the 300 and it’s all hard. Before that, I was just running maybe 95% to the 200, then going like the last 100.” That explained the reason. But does Cooper Lutkenhaus fall in the same line? Is he also inspired by Quincy Wilson’s technique in the 800m? What do you think?