16-year-old sprinting prodigy Quincy Wilson shattered the 400m U18 World Record at the Olympic Trials at Hayward Field. After setting the new record at 44.59s in the semis, Wilson unfortunately fell short of qualifying for Paris in the finals. However, his coach, Joe Lee, was confident his pupil would make it to the relay pool, and that’s exactly what happened.

While speaking on The Kevin Sheehan Show, Joe Lee explained why he felt confident. Recalling their first meeting, the track and field coach said the youngster’s eagerness and commitment stood out. However, the moment Lee understood Wilson was a special athlete, was at the 2023 New Balance Nationals Indoor, where the freshman beat the odds and his opponents.

“The guy to beat was the number two all-time in high school. He was a senior, and he’d run like 46.02s, which is super fast indoors for anybody, let alone a high schooler,” said Lee. However, despite having a shorter stride and less experience, Wilson won the 400m race. “The crowd goes crazy. Quincy Wilson, the freshman beats the seniors,” Joe Lee told Kevin Sheehan.

The 16-year-old didn’t lead when the race started, making the victory even more impressive. The track and field coach witnessed his athlete’s true potential that day and knew he could make it to the Olympics. Nonetheless, the coach-athlete duo didn’t focus on the Olympics but worked on improving his technique.

In 2023, the youngest U.S. male track and field Olympian ran 400m in 46.67s. However, it barely took the prodigy a year to shave off two seconds. In fact, before setting the 44.59s record in the semi-final, the Bullis High student broke the original one with a 44.66s sprint in the heats. Yet, somehow, the sprinter continues to set a higher standard.

Quincy Wilson can’t stop breaking records

You’d think it would be nearly impossible for an athlete to shave off 00.40s in less than a month. However, the U.S. 4x400m relay pool member did just that at the Holloway Pro Classic in Florida. Joe Lee’s star student broke his U18 400m dash record, yet again, with 44.20s on the clock. Although Bryce Deadmon pushed Wilson, he couldn’t beat the youngster.

The closely contested race saw Deadmon finish in second place with 44.24s. Quincy Wilson had to wait through a period of uncertainty before learning he had made the relay pool. Nevertheless, it seems the USTAF made the correct decision regarding the Bullis High athlete.

With less than a week left of the praise Olympics, the next time you’ll witness Quincy Wilson sprint, it’ll be in Paris. However, only time will tell if the athlete sets yet another milestone while wearing Team USA’s colors.