'I'm running with the big dogs:' 16-year-old Quincy Wilson sets record at Olympic Trials

After putting the high school track and field scene on notice as a freshman and sophomore as he thundered to first-place finishes in dozens of events, Quincy Wilson set his sights on the Olympics.

The 16-year-old has a legitimate chance to reach Paris after his 400-meter dash at the Olympic Trials on Friday.

Wilson, entering his junior year at Bullis High School (Potomac, Md.), set world U18 and American high school records in the trials in Eugene, Oregon, running his 400-meter heat in 44.66 seconds.

He broke the world record of 44.84 seconds that had been set five years ago and a U.S. high school record that had stood for 42 years by 0.03 seconds, according to the Washington Post. In clearing the 45-second mark, he set a new standard for himself.

“It’s a different game,” Wilson said to reporters. “I’m not running high school anymore. I’m running with the big dogs.”

Wilson has dominated at the high school level with highlights including nearly breaking the 45-second mark in the 4x400m as a freshman, winning the New Balance Nationals in both indoor and outdoor in the 400m and 4×400 as a sophomore, and taking first place in the East Coast Elite – Meet of Champions and Distance Carnival @ Stevenson University in both the 100- and 200-meters.

The Washington Post asked him to rank his nerves on a scale of one to 10.

“Probably like a 2,” Wilson said. “I’m racing against bigger people that got brands and things like that. To me, everybody puts their spikes on the same way I do. I train just as hard as they do. It’s just the best of the best going at each other.”