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PARIS — As track and field competition at the Paris Olympics gets underway Friday morning, one of the biggest mysteries involves the youngest member of the U.S. team.
When will 16-year-old phenom Quincy Wilson make his Olympic debut on Stade de France’s distinctive purple track?
The answer to that question remains elusive nearly a month after USA Track & Field confirmed that Wilson would be part of its men’s relay pool. A USATF spokesperson did not immediately return a message from Yahoo Sports on Friday. When asked if he knew when Wilson would run in Paris, his coach, Joe Lee, told Yahoo Sports, “Still TBD.”
Heat sheets on the Olympics’ official website list Wilson as part of the U.S. quartet that will run in the mixed 4×400-meter relay prelims on Friday night, but his mom says that’s incorrect. Monique Wilson wrote on Instagram on Thursday that relay coach Mike Marsh “notified Quincy that he will not be running in the mixed 4x400m relay.”
If so, the only races in which Wilson could participate would be the men’s 4×400-meter relay prelims on August 9 or the final on August 10.
At 16, Wilson is the world’s eighth-fastest man in the 400 meters this year and the third-fastest American. He earned his spot in the American relay pool earlier this summer when he ran three straight sub-45-second times at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Then a few weeks later, he set a new personal best and lowered his Under-18 world record to a blazing 44.20 seconds.
Wilson is already the youngest male ever to make the U.S. Olympic track & field team. He’s about a year younger than middle-distance runner Jim Ryun, who competed in 1964 at 17 years, 137 days old.
The teenager seems to be enjoying his Olympic experience so far, posing for pictures with LeBron James, Steph Curry and others during last week’s Opening Ceremony.
Now Wilson just has to hope that he gets a chance to run.
