OLYMPICS
Just 16, Quincy Wilson sets a 400 record and takes aim at Paris Olympics
The All-Met from Bullis blazes to a 44.66 in a qualifying heat, shattering an American high school mark that had stood for 42 years

By Adam Kilgore
Updated June 21, 2024 at 11:11 p.m. EDT | Published June 21, 2024 at 9:36 p.m. EDT



Quincy Wilson, wearing a Maryland-themed singlet he designed, set a high school record in the men's 400 at the U.S. Olympic trials Friday night at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. (Charlie Neibergall/AP)

EUGENE, Ore. — On the night before the biggest race of his life, Quincy Wilson dreamed about Paris. He does not own a driver’s license and does not need to shave, and still he came here with towering ambition. In one stunning lap around Hayward Field on the opening night of the U.S. Olympic track and field trials, Wilson made one thing abundantly clear: Making the Olympics at 16 years old may be a dream, but for him it’s no fantasy.

A sprinting phenom and straight-A student at Bullis School, Wilson had already become a future star of American track and field. The future arrived all of a sudden Friday night. With “Bullis” emblazoned across the front of his uniform, Wilson ran 400 meters in 44.66 seconds, shattering the under-18 world record and breaking an American record that Darrell Robinson had held for 42 years.

Wilson walked to the starting line in a racing singlet New Balance let him design himself, with a Maryland state flag pattern. He had never broken 45.13 seconds before, but he knew the time 44.84, the under-18 world record Justin Robinson set five years ago.

{snip}

As one Maryland track star began his ascent, another met a wrenching end. Matthew Centrowitz, the Broadneck High alum who won a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics, will miss the U.S. Olympic trials with a hamstring injury, costing him his attempt to reach his fourth and final Olympics.

{snip}

By Adam Kilgore
Adam Kilgore covers national sports for The Washington Post. Previously, he served as The Post's Washington Nationals beat writer from 2010 to 2014. Twitter https://x.com/adamkilgorewp

{snip}

OLYMPICS
Matthew Centrowitz out of his final Olympic track trials with injury
Gold medalist in the 1,500 meters at Rio Games had been hoping to make a fourth Olympic team.

By Adam Kilgore
June 21, 2024 at 1:56 p.m. EDT



Cole Hocker and Matthew Centrowitz race to the finish of the 1,500 meters at the 2020 U.S. Olympic trials. Centrowitz had been hoping to make a fourth Olympic team. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

EUGENE, Ore. – Matthew Centrowitz, the Broadneck High alum who won a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics, will miss the U.S. Olympic trials because of a hamstring injury, costing him his attempt to reach his fourth and final Olympics.

“Unfortunately, I won’t be having the fairy-tale ending I was hoping for,” Centrowitz said in an X post.

Centrowitz had declared in March that 2024 would be his final year, timed for one last run in the 1,500 meters at the Paris Olympics. In recent weeks, two ailments derailed him. After racing at the Los Angeles Grand Prix in May, Centrowitz became sick and missed a week of training. When he returned, he strained his hamstring.

{snip}

By Adam Kilgore
Adam Kilgore covers national sports for The Washington Post. Previously, he served as The Post's Washington Nationals beat writer from 2010 to 2014. Twitter https://twitter.com/adamkilgorewp