Teenage sprinting sensation Quincy Wilson is set to become the youngest ever US male track Olympian after the 16-year-old announced he had been picked in the 4×400 metre relay roster for this year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
Sharing the news on his Instagram, Wilson wrote: “WE GOING TO THE OLYMPICS,” while also sharing multiple posts reporting that he’d made the team.
“When I got the call, I was like, I was ecstatic,” Wilson told ESPN. “I started running around the house. It was just a moment for me because everybody dreams about going to the Olympics as a young kid.”
READ MORE: Brutal falls, incredible courage behind Aussie gold
READ MORE: ‘Shocked’ Hockeyroos in disbelief over selection snub
READ MORE: Blues star inks fresh deal after lengthy contract saga
Wilson’s coach Joe Lee also confirmed the news to both the Washington Post and USA Today.
“The call came directly to me from USA Track & Field,” Lee told USA Today. “I called Quincy afterwards with the good news.”
However, Wilson tells it different.
“I was extremely nervous and then he called me and said just like, ‘Unfortunately, we have some bad news,'” Wilson said. “And then he was like, ‘I’m just kidding. We’re going to Paris.'”
USA Track & Field declined to confirm the news to CNN, saying that the full team roster – including the relay pool – will be officially announced on July 8.
Wilson’s selection comes after a brilliant debut at the US Olympic Trials last week, where he twice broke a 400m world record.
Despite failing to qualify for the 400m, finishing sixth in the final, Wilson still ran an under-18 world record of 44.59 seconds in the semi-finals, two days after he initially broke the record with a time of 44.66.
“I don’t know if my season is over yet, I don’t want to go eat ice cream too soon,” Wilson said after the 400m race, before discovering he had made the relay pool.
Born in 2008, Wilson has quickly established himself as one of the most promising rising stars in track and field.
The sprinter seems to break a record whenever he runs and now looks set for a chance to prove himself on the world stage.
“He deserves it,” Rai Benjamin, Olympic 400-metre hurdler and member of the gold medal-winning US 4×400 relay in Tokyo, told ESPN. “The kid came out and ran 44s all three rounds.
“I’m not worried about him on the technical side of things, because he’s run multiple 4x4s, and he and his coach know how to keep it simple. He deserves it. The kid ran freaking well all weekend.”
Wilson is unsure which relays he will take part in and feels a great deal of gratitude for the chance he’s been given.
“Now that I’m on the USA team, these guys are like my older brothers,” Wilson said. “I don’t want to let my older brothers down. And when you’re running for a why and [know what] your why is … you’ll always run faster.”
He added: “I was dreaming about it when I was in Oregon about to do my third run. I dreamed about being an Olympian,” Wilson said. “It was just being on that Olympic stage, holding that gold medal, and things like that.
“When you dream about it a lot, it does come true when you put your work to it.”