Yet another American runner has come from behind for a dramatic photo finish at the Paris Olympics this summer, with Quincy Hall securing gold in the 400m on Wednesday.
The Kansas City native entered the final turn at the French national stadium in fourth place, but a stunning chase down earned him a first-ever Olympic medal and the praise of former US Track and Field icon Michael Johnson.
“Quincy Hall is such a finisher," Johnson said on the BBC. "He did the exact same thing at the US Olympic championships. Look at the face, look at the strength. He is a closer. He is raw, not the best technique at the end of the race. But he does what he does. Made the decision to switch from 400m hurdles to 400m flat last year and it has paid off.”
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Johnson is one of the most decorated U.S Olympians of all time, securing four Olympic medals in the 200 and 400m events across three Olympic Games. The Dallas native has since transitioned to a career in media, appearing on the BBC over the past two decades and writing periodic columns in the Daily Telegraph and The Times newspapers.
Hall, meanwhile, finished third in the 400m at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, his only career podium placement in an international 400m race, with last year's silver medalist Matthew Hudson-Smith appearing poised to claim the top spot throughout much of Wednesday's race. However, the Team USA sprinter attacked the final straight with furious, lengthy, strides, pulling ahead of Jereem Richards and Muzala Samukonga before beating Hudson-Smith to the finish line by just .4 seconds.
The winner at 2/1 odds, Hall quickly fell to the purple track at the Stade de France and produced a series of celebratory snow angels for the watching world. Hall's late-race heroics join a series of clutch performances from American track stars in Paris this summer, as both Noah Lyles (100m) and Cole Hacker (1500m) erased sizable deficits to secure historic gold medals for the United States.
Hall's dramatic surge and a few eye-catching details, such as his gold jewelry and the revelation that he was wearing boxer shorts underneath his speed suit, made the sprinter a national sensation and drew commentary from the wider sporting world.
"WOW!! Everybody must see Quincy Hall’s come-from-behind victory in the 400M! Cookie and I were screaming in disbelief that he came back in the last stretch and won the gold medal!" Hall of Fame point guard Magic Johnson wrote on Twitter. "Hall’s 43.40 is the fourth fastest of all time and his personal best."
Former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III, who additionally ran track at Baylor University and secured the NCAA Midwest Regional 400-meter hurdles record, also added his insight on Hall's Parisian effort. "USA’s Quincy Hall just ran 43.95 JOGGING in the Olympic 400m Semifinal. That’s one way to say BONJOUR to Paris."
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