Quincy Wilson Sets The Pace

When I hop on Zoom with Quincy Wilson, the teenage track phenom is enjoying a rare day off at home — the first of his two snow days, a treat at Maryland high schools. It’s a much-deserved break for the 18-year-old record-breaking athlete, who just returned from the Indoor Grand Prix in Boston this past weekend. The weekend before that, he was in Virginia Beach at the VA Showcase, where he ran the second-fastest 500-meter in high school history. He couldn’t be more thrilled about this unplanned time off. “I actually get some time to relax, chill, play video games, regenerate,” he says with a beaming smile.

At just 16, Wilson became the youngest U.S. track and field athlete to win Olympic gold at the 2024 Paris Games, and in February, he’s releasing a limited-edition signature shoe with New Balance — accomplishments many athletes spend a lifetime chasing. Yet the sprinter is only getting started.

After graduating this year, Wilson is joining the track team at his hometown college, the University of Maryland, and he hopes to return to the Olympics in 2028. Even with so much ahead of him, he remains remarkably grounded. “Whatever comes with the track comes, but I’m just working hard and trying to be the best person I can be,” he says.

Wilson’s first memories of running begin around age 8, when his parents signed him up for a local track club. “I remember my mom telling me, ‘Once you get to the trash can, take off. Once you get to the goal post, take off.’ My mom was telling me to just start going 100%.”

People say, ‘You can’t do this, you can’t do that.’ But a lot of things that I’ve done, accomplished, nobody has ever done.

It wasn’t until his sophomore year, though, when he stopped playing football, that he decided to focus on running. “I was always between track and football, but then I feel like track took off my sophomore year,” he says. He had a feeling it would be significant. “I knew that this was going to be the big, big sport."

That very year, he broke the under-18 world record twice for men’s 400 at the Olympic trials before heading to Paris and making more history there. “Honestly, I had no intention of trying to make the team,” Wilson says. “It was just to go out there and run my best. And if I made it, I made it. I was like, ‘I’m going to go out to the Olympic trials and just have fun, enjoy the experience.’ And a miracle happened.”

In Paris, he competed in heats in the 4x400 relay, alongside teammates like Vernon Norwood and Bryce Deadmon. “It felt great just representing my country at the biggest stage,” he says. “And just being a young person and getting wisdom from a lot of the older athletes and people who’ve been in my position, it’s been amazing to hear what a lot of people had to say to me.”

That advice was largely about shooting for the stars and continuing to break through boundaries in track and field — something Wilson knows all about. “A lot of people say, ‘You can’t do this, you can’t do that.’ But a lot of things that I’ve done, accomplished, nobody has ever done.”

As he heads further into the spotlight as an incoming college athlete, he’s learning to navigate outside opinions — whether it’s people who’ve told him to drop out of school after the Olympics or those who question his choice to go to Maryland over top-tier track schools. “I feel like my opinion, my family’s opinion, and God’s opinion are the only ones that matter to me,” he says. “Other people’s opinions, I will always take them in, but some things you just have to let them come in one ear and go out the other, because they’re not going to be able to benefit you.”

My job, my mom tells me, is to go to school, do well on the track, and come home and be a great person.”

He credits his ability to tune out the noise to having a small circle around him. “When you have a great support system around you, I feel like we’ve got it down and are still trying to make sure that we get it down each and every day.”

With less than five months of high school left, Wilson is set on making sure everything he’s doing is enjoyable — even when it comes to his long school days, which begin at 5 a.m. “It’s sometimes going to be a little stressful, but always find the positive in what you’re doing,” he says. “I’m honestly having fun going to school like a normal high school teenager. So I try not to make it my job yet because that’s not my job. My job, my mom tells me, is to go to school, do well on the track, and come home and be a great person.”

On race days, he stays calm by meditating, talking to God, and using recovery goggles that show his heart rate. “They’ve been making me feel a lot more relaxed,” he says. “The other day it was at 80, and it came down to 50 just by having the goggles on.”

He’ll miss friends going to school out of state and attending local meets, but he knows he’s on to bigger things. “I’m excited for graduation because it feels like I’ve been in high school forever now. Everybody calls me ‘unc’ now in high school,” he laughs. “Yeah, I’ve been there for a good while now.”

Being able to run for his hometown college means a lot to him. “You have a lot of support from not just the school. You have the governor pouring into my family and to me, helping me make my decision. You have the support from the track coach [Andrew Valmon] — he’s been in the Olympics and has the Olympic record in the 4x400 still. You have a lot of great people at the school. It’s one of the best choices that I feel like I’ve made so far.”

Arguably, Wilson has made a lot of great choices. In 2023, he signed with New Balance, becoming one of the youngest athletes to ever sign an NIL deal. Through that partnership, he’s met other pro runners he looks up to, including Norwood (“He's been a great mentor to me”) and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (“A great person that's deep into her faith.”). And now, the brand releasing a shoe in his honor — at only 18 — is a pinch-me moment for him.

You won't be the athlete you are without the wins, the losses, and the humbling moments.

“It’s kind of hard to put your trust in somebody, at such a young age. So I’m super thankful for New Balance and their family and their commitment towards me,” he says. “I love how the shoe came to life. I’ve worn it in the last two meets, and it looks amazing. I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on it. I’m just happy to wear it and show it off.”

With the Los Angeles Olympics on the horizon, he’s doing everything he can to get his mind and body prepped for 2028. “That’s the goal,” he says. “That’s the goal in the long term, to make as many Olympics as I can.”

Until then, he looks forward to finishing high school strong, even when the competition gets tough. “Not everything's going to be positive in the sport I’m in,” he says. “You have your ups and downs, but success isn’t linear. You have to go through the process and embrace each and every part of it because you won't be the athlete you are without the wins, the losses, and the humbling moments.”

And to those who dream of a career like his, the track star has some advice. "A lot of people say they want to be Quincy Wilson, and I say, 'Be yourself. Be who you are. It may be on the track, it may be in arts, it may be in dance, be that person. You can inspire a lot of people by just being yourself.’”