Quincy Wilson is becoming rather mainstream for making headlines, just like Noah Lyles. This time, the 17-year-old chose the New Balance National Indoor Championships. Racing in the 400m sprint on March 15, the Olympics history maker won the finals in 45.71 seconds. This becomes the second-fastest time in high school history. And the fastest in the New Balance Nationals Indoors ever, toppling his own time of 45.76 from 2024. But something else is drawing attention this time.
It’s not just the record and his pace. It’s the circumstances of the win that have left us surprised and in awe. Wait till you find out that he ran the 2nd-fastest time in school history while having breathing difficulties and other issues.
And here again, Quincy Wilson has found Noah Lyles with him. The most ardent track and field fans know the fastest man in the world has been battling chronic breathing problems all his life. And now, Paris Olympics starlet Quincy Wilson also reveals that he has had long-term respiratory problems.
The Bullis High Schooler raced in the New Balance Nationals Indoor Championships on March 15 in Boston and narrowly edged past Andrew Salvodon, who himself got the 4th-fastest time in school history, clocking 45.84. Taking to Instagram later, Citius MAG posted a clip of the 17-year-old breaking down the entire race for them. He walked us through how he got off to a good start: “I gotta go get six (sixth lane). I gotta go get six. When I came out of the blocks, I felt smooth … everything was smooth. I was trying to, like, stay, like, low with my arms.”
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Second-fastest 400m time in New Balance Nationals Indoors history
Second-fastest high school 400m time ever
Fastest high school 400m time ever
Fastest 400m time in New Balance Nationals Indoors history
Going into more technical details, he explained his implementation: “So, I was, like, not trying to use them (hands) as much just as yet. But then I felt the inside.” Cameron Homer, a fellow Bullis High-schooler of Quincy, gave him the first challenge. As Homer went past him from the inside, Quincy just kept calm. The Olympian continued, “Don’t panic. Been in this situation before. I wanted to get the break because I haven’t had a break all year. I kind of, like, got the break.”
His plan to go outside to overtake Homer worked: “I had to run outside, but I was just, like, I’m not running lane 2 this year. I’m cutting him. I cut him.” That’s when the crowd came alive. The teenage sensation, who has so many records to his name already, was in the lead: “This is where I start hearing people.” But with it came an uneasy feeling inside: “I’m starting to feel; all my lungs feel terrible. I mean, like, because of flu.” And the flu was not the only issue.
Eventually, Quincy won the race, as we know. The Paris Olympian was bullish: “But I’m just, like, I gotta be a dog. I seen him (Andrew Salvodon) coming up on me. I’m just, like, I gotta go to my arms. I gotta run. But I didn’t even know he was that close to come past me on the inside.” But Andrew didn’t cross him before the finish line.
Quincy Wilson was the New Balance Indoors race champ as he slowed down, walked near the crowd, and took it all in. Quincy was so prepared for the race, especially attitude-wise, as he was seen hyping up the crowd, almost as if telling them they knew who the #1 was.
But talking about the build-up to the New Balance Indoors race, he shared, “I even had bad asthma, so it was, like, it took me a long time to just, like, get back.” The speedster had been away from the tracks since the USA Indoor Championships on 23rd February. And now we know why. He said, “I haven’t run since USA’s. I’ve been in bed. I’ve been, yeah, I was real sick.”
The illness was made worse by the chronic breathing problem. Continuing, the Bullis High School star said, “I’ve been using my inhaler. I’ve been trying to get everything to make sure that I was ready for today.” This is not the first time Wilson overcame an injury obstacle to compete in a race. The biggest achievement of his life has come because he didn’t let injury keep him out.
When the qualifying heat came, he was there. Running a 47.27 split time, he started off the relay for team USA as they qualified for the finals with a time of 2:59.15. The rest, as we all know, is history. But coming back to the big revelation—that Quincy Wilson has asthma. It has been disruptive for him as it has been for Noah Lyles, who has been battling it all his life.
How Noah Lyles lives with asthma
If you don’t know what asthma is, it’s a condition where the airways in the lungs are affected, either by inflammation or by getting narrow. This makes it difficult for air to pass out when you exhale. Noah has had this condition since he was 3. Speaking to CNN in April 2020, the US sprinter said, “Asthma definitely affects kind of everything I do in terms of health, physical fitness, sometimes even emotional because if you’re emotionally fatigued, that can bring your immune system down.”
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The 27-year-old had to be homeschooled so that it didn’t make things worse for him. Add to that the change in diet, the operations to remove tonsils and adenoids when he was 7, and supplementary medication and vitamins. His parents haven’t left any stone unturned to ensure that asthma’s effect on Lyles is minimal. But still, he had suffered because of it all his life. He would return from races so exhausted and with breathing issues that he would have to miss Monday school.
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But Noah Lyles is an athlete who has refused to be kept down by it. Why is he the fastest man in the world? Asthma couldn’t stop him from winning the 100m race in just 9.784 seconds at Paris 2024. After the race, Lyles posted on X, “I have Asthma, allergies, dyslexia, ADD, anxiety, and Depression. But I will tell you that what you have does not define what you can become. Why Not You?”
The guy came in third in the 200m event, and wait for it. Noah Lyles ran the race with COVID. After the race, he collapsed in a heap. He left the track in a wheelchair, but he also left Paris with 2 medals. Yes, it’s unbelievable what these guys can do.
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