"Quincy Wilson got that aura" - Justin Gatlin makes bold prediction about the 17-year-old Olympic champion

Former Olympic champion Justin Gatlin recently confessed to being in awe of teenage sensation Quincy Wilson. Gatlin, who had won an Olympic gold medal in 100m at the Athens Olympics in 2004, opened up on the 17-year-old prodigy while predicting his future.

In a conversation with former Olympian from the Bahamas, Rodney Green on their YouTube channel 'Ready Set Go', Gatlin mentioned:

"I saw him in a clip of different Elite High School athletes, and um the young kids say, they got aura. Quincy got aura bro, just watching him walk around, not even on the track, just watching him walk around in the warmup area, he got aura bro, he's that dude!" [25:29 onwards]

Gatlin also added that he saw something different in Wilson and wished him the best for his journey. In his words:

"I want to see him go far, I wanna see him definitely make something of himself beyond what he has made of himself already man. I think he's gonna be something really really special."

Quincy Wilson stormed into the limelight for breaking the under-18 world record multiple times in the men's 400m. He recorded a personal best of 44.20 seconds at the Holloway Pro Classic in Florida in 2024.

Though he couldn't make it to the main squad for the Paris Olympics, Wilson's talents didn't go unnoticed as he represented the USA in the preliminaries of the men's 4x400m relay event at the Paris Olympics, becoming one of the youngest male athletes ever to represent any country in track and field at the Summer Olympics. In fact, he was even awarded a gold medal for his participation in the heats which also led to him becoming the youngest male track and field Olympic gold medalist in history.

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Quincy Wilson opens up on his defeat at the VA Showcase meet

Quincy Wilson opens up on his defeat at the VA Showcase event in 2025 [Image Source : Getty]

Quincy Wilson's year didn't begin exactly on a promising note. He faced a surprise defeat at the VA Showcase event. Despite being in the lead, the 17-year-old sprinter faced defeat to Andrew Salvodon in the 500m race.

After the loss, Wilson opened up about what went wrong. Addressing the Bullis School crowd, Wilson mentioned:

"I've won this gold medal, I've won a lot of things, won every national championship that I've been in, things like that, but last weekend I ran my first track meet and I lost. Everybody had me planned out to win, everybody had everything out and I was supposed to win. I got beat, the dude that beat me broke the national record and things like that, went over the internet.."

"At the end of the day, the guy that came out there that beat me said it doesn't matter who steps on that track, who steps on it against him, he's going to give them their best effort, and I feel like that's how it is today. Y'all both have the same record, y'all go out there and give them the best record," added the 17-year-old sprinter.

Quincy Wilson is looking forward to showcasing his talent in the New Balance Indoor Championships, which will be held in March 2025. The young sprinter is also aiming to represent the USA at the prestigious World Athletic Championships, which will be held in Tokyo in September 2025.