“You only lose when you quit” – Quincy Hall fought for a fair shot at his first Olympic gold medal at Stade de France. However, his chances looked grim as he trailed behind in fourth place. Undeterred, he pushed himself to trudge on and eventually blazed past his competitors for a spot on the podium. While the 26-year-old pulled off a stellar win from behind, fellow track and field star Alaysha Johnson couldn’t replicate the same result.

After powering her way through the heats and the semi-finals, she stepped into the finals with her sights set on an Olympic gold. But much to her dismay, it wasn’t good enough. She had to watch her dreams tragically come to a crashing halt at the Stade de France. While the 28-year-old is now back home, she still finds it hard to cope with returning empty-handed. Hall has dealt with adversity previously and knows what that feels like. So it’s no surprise that he had some sound advise for her.

Quincy Hall has Alaysha Johnson’s back

The hurdler left Paris heartbroken, and found it hard to go by her routine. She sounded her thoughts out on X, “Nobody ever tells you how hard it is to pick yourself back up once your dreams don’t come true 😔” This caught Quincy Hall’s eye, who only had one thing to say. “All good champ keep you chin up and yo chest out let that cry turn you in to a monster 💯 don’t let that keep off yo feet you not done yet champ 💯💯 let you story continue we wit you lay 🐶🐶💯” What happened during the 100m hurdles finals?

Alaysha Johnson made her first world appearance at the World Championships in 2022. However, during the 100m hurdles prelim, she hit the first two hurdles and was promptly disqualified. Refusing to let this hold her back, she was ready to redeem herself at the French capital. The 28-year-old turned heads during the heats with an impressive time of 12.61 seconds. She then blazed past her competitors in the semi-finals with 12.34 seconds on the clock. 

Confident she had it in the bag, she was back one last time on August 10. After gleefully interacting with the crowd, she settled into the blocks. Even though she was off to a slow start, Johnson continued to push herself. But things took a turn for the worse when she clipped the third hurdle with her foot. She lost her balance, tipping backwards, but pulled herself back up again. However, she wasn’t quick enough for the podium and finished seventh in 12.93 seconds.

Leaving his setbacks in the past

There once was a time when Quincy Hall was left out of several Team USA track and field events. However, he proved that he has what it takes at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. Trailing behind Antonio Watson and Matthew Hudson-Smith, the 26-year-old completed the podium with a personal best of 44.37 seconds in the 400m event. He went on to clinch a gold in the 4x400m relay with a world-leading time of 2:57:31 seconds. 

Speaking to USA Today, the Olympian explains what it was like leading up to Paris Olympics. “Just trying to process it. But I am not too surprised because I’ve been working hard, and I always try to be top dog.” Hall was up against compatriot Michael Norman and GB’s Matthew Hudson-Smith in the 400m finals at the French capital. With a slow start, he was initially behind 3 other sprinters. But in the final 100m stretch, he blazed past them to cross the finish line first. 

With just four seconds between Hall and Hudson-Smith, the former crushed the Brit’s dream by clocking in 43.30 seconds on the clock. His chances of clinching a gold seemed bleak as soon as he felt a strain in his leg. But the constant mantra of “get home, Q” helped him endure the pain through that final stretch. Fans were over the moon with his epic comeback. But his advise to Alaysha Johnson shows that he practices what he preaches. What do you think Hall’s take on Johnson’s situation? Let us know in the comments!