In a tight race to the finish, Quincy Wilson won the men’s 400m race at the 2024 Holloway Pro Classic elite track meet. Wilson finished in first place with the time of 44.20 seconds, shattering the U18 world record in the 400m—a record he set three times in the past two months.
Held at the University of Florida in Gainesville on Friday night, the 2024 Holloway Pro Classic served as a great way to squeeze in one more race for the few Olympians who participated including Wilson before heading to Paris.
The 16-year-old Bullis High School rising junior first broke the U18 record this summer at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. He did so in the qualifying rounds with a time of 44.66. He then broke his own newly set record in the semifinals with his 44.59 finish.
Wilson finished in sixth place in the 400m finals but was selected to run part of the relay pool. In Paris. This makes him the youngest male on the men’s track and field Olympic Team for 2024.
At the Holloway Pro Classic 400m, it was an exciting race that had Olympian Bryce Deadmon in the lead with Wilson trailing behind. Wilson then made his move and kept pace with Deadmon, the two seemingly crossing the finish line at the same time. But it was Wilson who took the men’s 400m with his new U18 world record of 44.20.
This now makes Wilson the sixth-fastest 400m runner in the world this year.
Deadmon took second place with 44.23, followed by Matthew Boiling with a finish time of 44.84.
Deadmon is the U.S. national champion in the 400m. The Olympian has one gold and one bronze medal for the men’s 4x400m relay and mixed 4×400 m relay.
Wilson’s 44.20 finish at the Holloway Pro Classic reveals just how much growth and speed the teen has had this season. He started the year with a 45.87 PR in the 400m. Back in March he finished the 400m in 45.76 and has decreased his time ever since.
Wilson is to leave for the Paris Games on Tuesday in hopes of racing in either the mixed-gender 4×400 relay or the men’s 4×400 relay. Breaking the world record again in the 400m gives Wilson that extra edge to be selected to compete in his debut Olympics.