Quincy Wilson had hardly ever been in such a tough spot. While the gaze at the VA Showcase 2025 was fixated on this defending champion, his strides looked dull from the get-go, fizzling out right after the first 100m. It was clear he wasn’t his usual self. And the result? Well, the 500-meter crown slipped and passed onto Andrew Salvodon. But one loss doesn’t define a champion, does it? The 17-year-old went on to prove exactly this, stepping up when Bullis High School needed him the most.

The Paris Olympics gold medalist relay runner Quincy Wilson didn’t stay low for long. Instead, he bounced back in his second event at the VA Showcase 2025, which was the 4x400m mixed relay. Teamed up with Chrisshelle Campbell, Cameron Homer, and Morgan Rothwell, Wilson had now returned to his signature distance, the 400m, as he ran the opening leg in the relay. And what followed was pure magic, relieving the fans as this was the Quincy Wilson they’d come up to see.

As reported by Travis Miller, the Cheapsake native Quincy Wilson ran a blazing 46.33 split in the relay, setting the momentum for the team that was carried through the next three legs. As a result, the Bullis High School relay team lowered their own national high school record in the mixed 4×400-meter relay. Clocking 3:22.94 this time, they were a whopping 9 seconds faster, which is barely a small margin. And the credit for being the forebearer this time goes straight to Wilson.

So what is exactly the problem here? We’ll tell you. As you all know, we’ve seen Wilson run faster 400-meter splits in relays before and also clock quicker timings in this distance in general. Remember the 2024 Penn Relays where Quincy Wilson ran two straight sub-45 second splits, the first in 44.37 seconds and the next in 44.69 seconds. He even owns the U18 400m world record, standing firm at 44.20 seconds after being lowered twice, which shows just how fast he can go. Yet, the fact that he ran an average of 46.33s tied together with that 500-meter miss led a fan to comment, “Coach Lee gotta fix that form.”

Of course, if a part of the credit for Wilson’s wins goes to Coach Lee, the onus for his misses will lead fans to pull him into the conversation too. Especially, knowing that Quincy Wilson recently told Citius Mag, “We’ve worked on everything—my start, my form, my mindset. He’s [Coach Lee] been the key to turning potential into real performance.” So what happened this time? Well, even though Wilson’s helped his team to a relay win, fans are sensing something off in his performances. And now they are speculating the possible reasons behind it.

Fans chime in with advice for Quincy Wilson after his average runs

Rae Edwards from Raes Take TV commented on X saying, “I can already tell that tomorrow’s weekend wrap up is shaping up to have some pretty good debates… Quincy Wilson is at the top of that list. Why is he running right now?” Well, this weekend at the VA showcase has been every bit controversial for Wilson. Everyone was hoping for him to cover the 0.02-second margin that was left between him and Will Sumner’s 500m high school record last year. But that didn’t happen! What’s more, we saw him lose by nearly 2 seconds to a fellow 17-year-old.

Are these lackluster performances the result of pushing himself too far? Possibly. However, some might disagree that a 46.33 split or a 1:02.49s 500m run isn’t good. Of course, these are good times. But the fan expectations from Quincy Wilson are to see the extraordinary, as he has shown before. And when that didn’t happen in Virginia, it’s natural that the prodigy will be a topic of discussion for long. Some would debate for him, and some against him.

However, there are a bunch of people who are taking a neutral stance. “Not taking anything away from the young man who won but Quincy Wilson really needs some rest, he’s flaming out,” wrote another fan. Well, is it so? If we look at his last few races, Quincy Wilson ended last season with a feeble 47.30 split in his first leg of the Paris Olympics 4x400m men’s relay. And when he opened the new season in December at the Ocean Breeze Holiday Festival in the Sprint Medley Relay, his 800m anchor leg was somewhat another poor show.

After a single moment of relief when he set his new 600m personal best at the Marine Corps Holiday Classic, Quincy Wilson once again fell into the clutches of loss at the VA showcase 500m. Thus, it has indeed been a mixed bag. And all this has given fans a chance to put him in the spot. They’re claiming that he is fading out. Whereas, another one said, “Laughable to think he couldn’t tell his coach he isn’t running.” This sets another narrative that Wilson was probably running out of obligation and not because he wanted to, as his mood after the 500-meter loss would have been understandably low.

Well, there’s a 50-5o possibility here. As another fan explained,“Being that he’s running for the school he has no choice. I mean I probably would hand held off for the last chance meet or not let him hit at all indoor. But you know highschools ain’t playing that. But it wasn’t a bad run. He let that bump get him. But I believe dude win anyway.” The fan here possibly implies that when you wear a jersey, you are tied with a responsibility towards it. And Wilson was probably just doing that.

But despite all that, Wilson was still the best Bullis runner of the day. Among the quartet, he clocked the fastest time, followed by Campbell, who was a few thousandths of seconds above 47 on the clock. Still, some of his diehard fans have faith in him. They know one bad day isn’t going to define him and that Quincy Wilson will be back in great shape before we know it.

A fan remarked, “He [Wilson] has done it in the past too. Not sure why they didn’t try to shift plans for a later start after how long his season went and how much success. But that guy that beat him could be special.” The enthusiast believes that perhaps Quincy Wilson should have hit the pause button for a while looking at how long his 2024 season was. A part of the reason can possibly be that fatigue is getting to him or the pressure is. Not to mention, it can be the weight of the expectations too. Do you agree that Wilson has rushed things this year? Let us know below!