As the relay for the 4x400m got underway, perhaps the most talked about member of the team is also the youngest in the team’s history. Quincy Wilson made his debut for Team USA on Friday morning in Paris, running the opening leg of the 4x400m relay first round heat.
Wilson settled into the blocks with baton in hand in what promised to be a competitive heat. Only the first three teams to cross the finish line would earn the automatic qualifier to go on to the next round, and with Botswana, Great Britain, and Japan also on the starting line, each member of Team USA would need to be in top form.
As the race started, Letsile Tebogo, fresh off his 200m gold medal performance, got Botswana out to a huge lead. As the aforementioned competition remained in striking distance, Wilson faded through the third and fourth turns, getting the stick to Vernon Norwood in seventh place. The official split time for Wilson’s the opening leg was 47.3 seconds.
Norwood, about as experienced of a relay runner as there has been in US history, took the baton and began getting to work. He patiently chipped away at the lead, while absolutely cruising through his 400m leg, running an astounding 43.6-second split. He made the pass to Bryce Deadmon with the USA in sixth place, and still work to do.
Deadmon, who, like Norwood, has been a mainstay on these relay squads, used his experience to move the USA from sixth position to fourth by the time he made the hand-off to Chris Bailey for the anchor. His 44.2-second leg got the USA within striking distance of both Japan and Great Britain, with Botswana’s lead virtually insurmountable for one of the three automatic qualifying spots.
With baton in hand, Bailey only had to get the USA into third position from fourth in this final leg of the relay. He had finished sixth in the 400m Olympic final just two days prior, now running his fourth competitive 400 in the past five days.
Bailey began his anchor leg at a measured pace, letting the runners from Japan and Great Britain battle for their positions on the back stretch. As they came to turn four, however, Bailey made his move and passed Sato from Japan, holding strong through the finish. His 44-second split would move the USA from fourth to third, earning the final auto-qualifying spot. The USA would finish the relay in 2:59.15.
The men’s 4x400m final will take place on Saturday, August 10 at 3pm ET.
WATCH: Quincy Wilson makes debut, men’s 4x40m team come back to reach final, via YouTube
Quincy Wilson, the 16-year-old superstar from Bullis High, made a big splash at the USATF Olympic Trials, running record after record to earn a place in the 400m final. From that performance, he was selected as part of the relay pool. Many were expecting him to take part in the mixed relay, however the event came and went without Wilson in the field. His mother posted to Instagram at the time that he was notified he would not be on the mixed relay team prior to its start.
