Wilson ran a 44.66, breaking a record set by Darrell Robinson in 1982. A day later, in the semifinal, he did it again with a time of 44.59 that earned him a spot in the final. He trailed three runners down the stretch, but did enough to close the gap.
Ato Boldon, an Olympic silver and bronze medalist in 1996 and 2000, respectively, called Wilson “phenomenal” on the NBC Sports broadcast.
“A lot of us felt like maybe he ran too fast in the first round,” Boldon said. “This confirms that this boy is a serious player. He left the shift with work to do and work he did. These are grown men he’s chasing!
Wilson finished sixth in the finals two days later, but his 44.94 was enough to put him in the U.S. Olympic 4×400 relay field. He traveled to Paris with the team and found out he would open the first heat with Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and Christopher Bailey.
He told NBC News that he suffered a hamstring injury almost immediately after being named to the team, but that wouldn’t stop him from running on the world stage.
“I didn’t come there for nothing. “I didn’t come to look,” he said. “I’ve been training my whole life for this, so I thought, ‘Why not go out on the court and give it my all?’ You never know if you might get this opportunity again.’”
With all eyes on him, he scored 47.27, far from his personal best. Maybe the injury affected him. Maybe it was nerves. But good times from their teammates carried the United States to the finals, where Norwood, Deadmon, Bailey and Rai Benjamin claimed gold.
