Quincy Wilson, 16, spent June 30 awaiting a pivotal phone call. The call would determine if he had secured a spot on the U.S. Olympic 4x400-meter relay team and if he would become the youngest ever male U.S. track and field Olympian, according to NBC Olympics.
Wilson’s Olympic opportunity arose following his exceptional performance in the 400-meter race during the Olympic track and field trials.
Competing alongside Olympic gold medalists like Bryce Deadmon, 27, Michael Norman, 26, and Vernon Norwood, 32, Wilson appeared out of place due to his youth and size but remained undeterred.
“I told myself, ‘It’s just a normal race,’” Wilson told NBC Olympics. “It’s anybody’s race. Everybody puts on their shoes the same way. Everybody starts the same way. Everybody gets in the blocks the same way.”
“At the end of the day, you just have to go run your best,” he continued. “So, I just ran my best and my outcomes were my outcomes.”
With this mindset, Wilson made history by breaking the under-18 world record for the 400-meter race during the first round with a time of 44.66 seconds, a record that had stood for 42 years, per NBC Olympics.
In the semifinals, he surpassed his new record with a time of 44.59 seconds, earning a spot in the finals.
To make the Olympic team, he needed to finish in the top three at the finals.
“I didn’t really have too many nerves, to be honest,” Wilson told NBC Olympics about his approach to the finals.
Wilson finished the finals with a time of 44.94 seconds, placing sixth. While this was not enough to qualify for the individual 400-meter event, it made him eligible for the men’s relay pool.
“Three consecutive sub-44s is just amazing,” Wilson said after finals, per USA Today. “All I know is I gave it everything I had, and I can’t be disappointed. At the end of the day, I’m 16 running grown man times.”
After the trials, Wilson waited anxiously for the call from his agent to learn if he had made the team.
“I don’t know if my season is over yet; I don’t want to go eat ice cream too soon,” Wilson said. “I could be getting that call and have to regroup. I’m just gonna keep my head down and keep praying on it and hope I make the team.”
The call was expected between 9 and 10 p.m., but as 11 p.m. passed, Wilson told NBC Olympics, “I was like, ‘Well, I guess I didn’t make it.’”
Then the unexpected happened and Wilson received the call confirming his place on the team.
“This has been my dream since I was a little kid. But I still am a little kid,” Wilson said.