"My leg just collapsed" - Quincy Wilson drops major revelation on injury that impacted his Paris Olympics performance

Quincy Wilson made a major revelation about an injury he sustained during a warm-up session at the 2024 Paris Olympics. This hamstring injury, which he suffered during warm-ups, led to his underwhelming performance in the men’s 4x400m heats at the quadrennial games.

During his appearance on the ‘Beyond The Records’ podcast, hosted by Rai Benjamin and Grant Holloway, Wilson mentioned that a ‘mishap’ occurred during the Olympics. Benjamin and Holloway asked him to elaborate on the injury he sustained at the Games, which had not been known to the public. Wilson then revealed the incident, stating (8:18 onwards):

“Coming into, I was going to practice one day and we're warming up, feeling good. Like I said I didn't get my training, kind of changed because I didn't know if I was going to be on the mixed relay or not, so I didn't know. So, the next day I had to change up my training when I found out that I wasn't on the team. So I had to change everything.”

“I'm on the curve and I'm running a 200m and I feel something real quick. Then, I'm just like and I'm going be straight real quick. I ran the next step the whole hamstring grabbed up, whole hamstring. I tried to smile it off, but it hurt so bad. Benjamin [Rai] came over there, ‘You good, bro?’ I was like, ‘Yeah I'm straight, bro.’ Meanwhile, I felt like my leg just collapsed. It hurt so bad.”

Quincy Wilson added that despite the injury, he still ran the race and all his teammates knew he was in pain. Having earlier been criticized for his poor performance with many relating it to his lack of experience, the Bullis High School athlete stated that his struggles were due to the physical impact of the injury and not because of a lack of mental readiness.

In Paris, Wilson only ran the heats of the 4x400m, clocking a 47.27s in the first leg. However, the efforts of his teammates, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon, and Christopher Bailey, helped in earning the USA a direct qualification to the final. In the final, team USA went on to win gold with an Olympic record of 2:54.43, with the youngster winning his first-ever Olympic gold.

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Quincy Wilson reflected on his goals for 2025 season

Quincy Wilson at New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Getty Images)

In a January 2025 interview with Citius Mag, Quincy Wilson was asked about his goals for the season, especially with the World Athletics Championships scheduled for September. The 17-year-old stated that his primary goal was to stay healthy, both physically and mentally, as he believed he could achieve great success if he remained in peak condition, saying:

“My goal is basically to stay healthy all season. If I stay healthy mentally and physically and put what I want to put down on the track, I think the sky's the limit for me this year.”

In his 2025 season-opening campaign at the Virginia Showcase, where he was considered a favorite, Quincy Wilson finished second in the 500m after losing to Andrew Salvodon, who also shattered the national record. His best individual performance this indoor season came at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, where he won the 400m with a time of 45.66 seconds.