Quincy Wilson gets shot at gold after teammates lead relay comeback

16-year-old track and field sensation Quincy Wilson knows his leg of Friday's 4x400-meter opening-round heat at the Stade de France wasn't his best, and he put his team in a difficult spot.

Wilson's teammates picked him up, taking the Americans from seventh place to a third-place finish and a berth in Saturday's final at the Summer Olympics in Paris.

The history-making teenager posted an underwhelming time of 47.27 during his opening 400-meter run, putting Team USA in seventh place when he handed the baton off to Vernon Norwood. For reference, Wilson recorded a 44.66 and a 44.59 during the U.S. trials in June, both of which broke the 400-meter dash under-18 world records.

According to a report by ESPN's Coley Harvey , when the Maryland native handed off to Norwood, there was a nearly three-second gap between Wilson and Botswana's Letsile Tobago. The latter won gold during Thursday's 200-meter final.

Per Harvey's report, Wilson said he would use Friday's performance as "motivation" moving forward.

The 32-year-old Norwood, meanwhile, described what it was like trying to balance the historical moment of competing with an athlete half his age while attempting to mount a furious comeback.

"Honestly, I was kind of in the moment, because I'm watching a 16-year-old run an Olympics, making history," Norwood said, according to Harvey's report. "So I was very proud of him, and I'm just looking at him like, 'Oh, snap back in and let me get this thing going.'"

Per Harvey, anchor Chris Bailey knew that in his position, he had to simply "get out there and go." He closed strong, posting a 44.14-second final leg.

"There's nothing else I can better focus on than just executing my race and focusing on my ability, I know what I can and can't do," Bailey said.