Could you imagine representing your nation on the world’s biggest stage at just 16? After narrowly missing out on making the Olympic team, Quincy Wilson surprised the track and field community with a stunning debut at Stade de France. The wunderkind contested in the 4x400m relay heats and is now the youngest Team USA male athlete to compete in a track and field event at the Games. “This was a dream come true,” he confessed in a post-race interview. 

Even though the sprinter wasn’t a part of the finals, he got to leave the French capital with an Olympic gold to his name. But while Wilson continues to ride the wave of his victory, he has to tackle his next challenge. What’s on the cards for the 16-year-old? Should he go down the traditional route and contest at a collegiate level, or will a professional career be his best bet? On an October 21 episode of the Ready Set Go podcast, hosts Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green explored these scenarios. 

The track and field legend asked the analyst what his take is regarding Quincy Wilson’s future, and Green didn’t hold back. After claiming he’s seen this before, he reiterates how things could change. It’s no surprise that the prodigy looks up to the very people he competed against. But that wouldn’t be the case if he goes pro. “You go from real deal, your idols becoming your rival,” the Bahamian exclaimed. Justin Gatlin couldn’t help but agree. 

“The crazy thing is those introductions, bro,” he added. The track and field legend goes on to imitate how the athletes, whom the youngin’ looks up to possibly greet him currently. “They like, ‘Hey, what’s up, man? What’s up, little dog? Hey man, for sure. Hey man, keep doing your thing. All right, man. Hope to see you up here soon, man. You keep focused, man; stay motivated.'” But if the 16-year-old leans towards going professional any time soon, the duo believe he would be up for a rude awakening. 

Gatlin added, “You flip it, young boy and went pro, right? Now you see him, ‘Hey, what’s up, man? What’s up?’ That pro athlete that was giving you all that inspiration and everything? They be like, ‘Hey, what’s up? All cool?'” He drove his point home by raising his fist with a disinterested expression. Rodney Green agreed that all he would receive is a fist bump before they go their separate ways. Gatlin also thought that going back to college is important for Wilson to gauge if he wants to focus on athletics as his only career.

“I think it’s a gamble, he already has his persona, and he already has a star quality because he is a high school kid who really went to the Olympics and won a gold medal. I think for him, it should be, his sights in the near future, it should be going pro. If he does go to college, he can go a one-year, I think a one-and-done kind of situation. That would put him in a good situation to understand competing from a high school to even a college level and then going pro,” Gatlin added. Indeed, it is an important thing Quincy has to figure out. Can you guess why?

Track and field in the USA is in a weird situation. It has talents who can challenge the best at the global level. Despite that, most Americans are not even aware of what is happening in the sport throughout the year. The picture briefly changes once in four years. That is the Olympics. The likes of 2024 Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles have even called it a “dying sport” in America. No wonder that often, we get to hear incidents where a pro athlete is left without sponsors or, they have to take up side jobs to fuel their dreams. Carl Lewis had explained the reason behind that.

In a conversation with FloTrack in 2021, Lewis had identified the lack of a centralized mechanism and the absence of a professional league (like that of NFL, NBA, and MLB) that is killing the visibility of the sport. Lewis had said that those sports are always alive with developments like drafts, trades, and transfers, even when the teams are not playing. There is no such thing in track and field. So it is literally an out-of-sight, out-of-mind situation.

“You’re a high school kid or a college kid or whatever and you say well i’m turning pro. Well there is no real mechanism for turning pro other than saying i’ll take money,” Lewis had said, explaining the lack of organization while also noting how the NFL draft has become a yearly extravaganza with television broadcast and all. But now the strides are changing.

The launch of pro leagues by the likes of Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and track legend Michael Johnson has come up with the promise of making the sport more visible while offering healthy pay cheques to the athletes. As a talented young player, Quincy has to weigh in on all these which can be daunting. But he can surely take a cue from 9x Olympic gold medalist swimmer Katie Ledecky and her teammate 5x Olympic champion Missy Franklin.

In the 2016 Rio Olympics, after her 4 gold medal haul, Katie had the chance to go pro. In an interview with Philip Hersh of ESPN.com before the Rio games, Olympic sports marketing expert Bob Dorfman had estimated that Ledecky could make $5 million annually in endorsements.

But after the Olympics Katie turned down the opportunity to compete for Stanford. She took her time and eventually became pro in 2018. Missy on the other hand, turned down a reported $5 million in deals to go to the University of California, Berkeley. She turned pro after 2 years at the school. Meanwhile, tasked with this tough call, Quincy Wilson has kept himself busy after the Olympic dust settled. 

Quincy Wilson is currently exploring the NCAA collegiate path

After the Paris Olympics, many are interested to see what path the 16-year-old would choose. Even though he hasn’t revealed his decision, the signs are definitely there. On October 6th, the sprinter was busy making official college visits for the NCAA season, and his first stop was Texas A&M University. The Maryland native was spotted on the sidelines of a Texas A&M football game. He had even shared a few snippets from his visit on Instagram.

However, since then, Quincy Wilson has visited the University of Georgia and Tennessee too. But before you get too excited about his pick, here’s the kicker. Each of his posts has ‘#notcommitted’ in the caption. The prodigy hasn’t decided yet. He’s just keeping his options open. We will likely see him visit a few more colleges before the Olympian takes his pick, especially with the double-edged sword of collegiate track and field and possible professional career dangling above his head. 

But while everyone waits for the time to come, the 16-year-old has received yet another nod for his performance at the Paris Olympics. In Ebony’s latest annual Power 100 list, the Olympian’s name was under the Generation Next category. Other promising names like Monet McMichael, Ayra Starr, Angel Reese, and more join him. Understandably so, the youngin’ was beyond ecstatic. He shared the news with his fans on his Instagram story with a heartwarming caption. 

“one of the biggest accomplishments ever in my life. Super blessed and honored,” he confessed. Eden Bridgeman, the CEO of Ebony, believes this is the most critical time to honor “transformative leaders” like him. In fact, the award recognizes Black talent across business, culture, entertainment, and sports. Quincy Wilson gets to share the spotlight with the likes of Noah Lyles, Sha’Carri Richardson, Maya Rudolph, Snoop Dogg, and more. However, with all these accolades, his future remains uncertain for now. But Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green have fired a warning shot for the sprinter. Do you agree with them?