The crowd was buzzing at the VA Showcase 2025 as teen star Quincy Wilson stepped onto the track. After creating ripples in the track and field realm, the Bullis School sensation was looking strong to break some more records. Participating in the 500m dash at the 2024 VA Showcase, Wilson stood strong at 1:01.27s, which was just a mere 0.02 seconds more than the high school record set by Will Sumner. So, did Wilson manage to break it, and etch his name in the history books once again? 

The teen titan seemed quite confident. Going into the race, Wilson revealed his goals at the pre-VA Showcase press conference. “For me, tomorrow, my goal is just to better myself. I’ve been training for two months, and my goal is just to better myself,” he said. Unfortunately, sometimes things do not go as expected despite how hard one tries. And the VA Showcase will forever remain one such life lesson for young Quincy Wilson. Will Sumner’s record did indeed get broken. But the only difference was, it was not Wilson who reigned supreme. 

As the gun was fired at the VA Showcase 2025, roars from the crowd grew stronger as Wilson took the initial lead. However, within seconds of him leading, a certain Andrew Salvodon came from behind to first run level with him. And ultimately surpassing him! This seemed to have affected Wilson’s confidence as his rhythm seemed off from that moment onwards. While the Bullis High School phenom tried hard to catch up, Salvodon’s speed was just too much for Wilson to overtake. With each passing second the gap got bigger and ultimately, Salvodon ended up taking down the US high school National Record at 500m. Running a blitzkrieg timing of 1:00.49s, Salvodon is now the fastest 500m runner in high school. 

The previous best was recorded by Will Sumner back in 2022 at the same event, where he clocked 1:01.25s. After creating history, the Bayside High School student was visibly brimming with elation. Catching up with FloSports after the race on January 17, 2025, Salvodon stated, “Man, there’s so much on my mind right now. I mean, I put everything I had into that track today. Even before that, l’ve been trying my butt off real hard. I’m happy to be here. I’m happy to embrace it. l’ve wanted that for a long time, so it’s a dream come true.”

In the same interview, Salvodon also shed light on his preparation for the race, knowing that it would be against Quincy Wilson. The newest track and field star stated that although he knew the stature of Wilson, he never really let that cloud his mind. Instead, he trained hard and treated the race as any other normal one. Why so? Explaining his mindset, Salvodon said, “Because if you train like it’s a meet, you’ll be fine no matter how you do. I’ve been watching videos of how he runs, l pay attention to how I run. I do everything to make sure I’m good. So at the end of the day, I trained myself the best I could, and this is where it got me.” Surely, oozing confidence, the new record holder in the 500m category in US high school seems to be knowing the sport inside out. And watching his latest antics, fans went crazy. 

Leaving Quincy Wilson, fans rally behind Andrew Salvodon after incredible 500m dash 

As soon as the race concluded, the track world was buzzing with excitement. Soon, fans flocked to the comments section as they chimed in with their two cents. 

Salvodon has snatched a record from the youngest US track and field Olympian in history. A year back, in March 2024, Wilson retained his title at the New Balance Nationals Indoor 400m title in Boston. He made a national high school indoors record by clocking a time of 45.76 seconds. Although he could crack the record in 400 meters, he missed the 500-meter national high school in January 2023. And exactly a year after that, this time too, Wilson faced a defeat to Salvodon as he raced for the national record. Referring to the gap that Wilson had to face from Andrew made a fan comment, “Absolutely destroyed him, massive upset.”

Despite running a U.S. age-group No. 2 all-time mark of 1:01.27, in the VA Showcase meet last year in the very same venue of Virginia Beach. And this time as it appears, Wilson stepped on the track aiming to break the record of Sumner set back in 2022. But unfortunately, Salvodon stole Wilson’s plan this time. One track enthusiast could not hold back their words of praise for the impeccable timing pulled of by Andrew. They wrote, “Great race. Salvodon ran a perfect race this just gone fuel Quincy he hates to loose.” Moreover, several fans have started to believe that Salvodon’s entry to the sphere would now make the youngest US track Olympian gear up, even more, to make sure he doesn’t lose his ground on the tracks.

Andrew Salvodon’s win was catalyzed by his pacing strategy. Highlighting the same and analyzing the split times in the 500m dash, one X user wrote, “Bro split 34.Xx at 300 then 46 at 400 and 60.49 500.  Dang also both look like they are expending way too much energy with those forms”. “34.Xx at 300” suggests a strong start, but “46 at 400” indicates slight fatigue. But to top it all with a pacing speed, he confirmed his national record-breaking win with “60.49 at 500” finish. Last year in June, Salvodon timed an unofficial personal best of 47.00 in the 400 meters. And now we can conclude that it was nothing but a prequel to the main showdown that he was waiting to pull off at Virginia Beach.

During the course of the race, Wilson was caught faltering on the track. As Quincy could spot Andrew Salvodon overtaking him after the turn mid-course of the race it appeared that his confidence faced a setback. And it was that disruption that posed a barrier to Wilson speeding up on the race. Reflecting on the same, one X user added, “Sloon as Quincy lost his balance it was a wrap”. Moreover, the fact that Wilson could not keep his poise as he was challenged by Salvodon and he lost his confidence and concentration took a toll on his form and pace. Emphasizing the need to have a strong mental ground to win in such a competitive sphere, another netizen stated, “His form and mental has to be worked on.”

Thus, things are looking pretty rosy for Andrew Salvodon. Now, it will be interesting to see whether he can keep up with the good work in future races as well. And as for Quincy Wilson, it’s time for him to go back to the drawing board, regroup, and come back stronger.