BY ANY MEASURE Quincy Hall came to the Olympic Trials as one of the favorites in the 400, but he still managed to fly under quite a few radars.
By the time the 25-year-old Hall took the line Monday night, having established himself as the man to beat through qualifying, a big lens was on 16-year-old Quincy Wilson, while ‘22 Worlds champ Michael Norman, in his comeback to the 400 after last year’s troubled foray in the 100, rated as the nominal favorite based on pedigree and coming in with the season’s best time.
Then the gun went off and Hall, way out in Lane 8, kept flying under the radar as Norman (lane 5) tried to storm the field in the first 200. The arc of Hall’s career, though, indicates he’s going to keep coming and in the biggest moment of his career, he was relentless. From 6th at the 100, then 5th at the 200 and 3rd at the 300, Hall kept working, kept reeling back Norman.
The long chase came to fruition in the final 50 meters, as Norman’s fade coincided with Hall’s charge that carried him to Paris with his first national championship. Nothing about it should have been surprising, as Hall struck bronze at last year’s Worlds in Budapest in his first year concentrating on the 400 instead of the hurdles, then was the leading qualifier in the first round and semis, but the big personal best of 44.17 did seem ahead of schedule.
“To get home, son. That is all I told myself,” Hall said following the race. “That’s the dog in me.”
Norman, meanwhile, mostly got away with going out faster than he eventually was able to handle, as he faded to 44.41 but hung on at the tape for 2nd over fast-closing Chris Bailey (42.42), who in turn outleaned Vernon Norwood (44.47) for the third spot in Paris. Norman led from the 100 mark to 350 and had several steps on the field entering the stretch — officially he was 0.44 ahead of Hall at the 300 — but couldn’t hold it.
Wilson, meanwhile, only made his star brighter with a 6th-place finish in 44.94. He qualified fourth in the semis with a personal best 44.59.
Wilson’s moment seems destined to come, but this day was about Hall. An NCAA champion in the 400 hurdles for South Carolina in 2019, he moved over to the 400 last season and was 3rd at the World Trials, then 3rd at Worlds (along with gold in the 4 x 400). He was building toward his big day for a while, building toward it through the semifinals, building toward it in the first 300 of the finals.
There was some inevitability to winning a championship and that arrived Monday.
MEN’S 400 RESULTS
FINAL (June 24)
1. Quincy Hall (adidas) 44.17 PR
(11.25, 10.27 [21.52], 11.07 [32.59], 11.58) (21.52/22.65)l
2. Michael Norman (Nike) 44.41
(10.82, 10.08 [20.90], 11.25 [32.15], 12.26) (20.90/23.51)l
3. Chris Bailey (TS) 44.42 =PR
(11.34, 10.49 [21.83], 10.87 [32.70], 11.72) (21.83/22.59)l
4. Vernon Norwood (NBal) 44.47
(11.40, 10.51 [21.91], 11.12 [33.03], 11.44)(21.91/22.56)
5. Bryce Deadmon (Nike) 44.61
(11.04, 10.54 [21.58], 11.20 [32.78], 11.83) (21.58/23.03)l
6. Quincy Wilson (unat) 44.94 (x, 6 HS)
(11.29, 10.43 [21.72], 11.24 [32.96], 11.98) (21.72/23.22)l
7. Khaleb McRae (Al) 45.06
(10.96, 10.37 [21.33], 11.27 [32.60], 12.46) (21.33/23.73)l
8. Matthew Boling (unat) 45.15
(10.68, 10.24 [20.92], 11.40 [32.32], 12.83) (20.92/24.23)l
9. Justin Robinson (AzSt) 46.08
(11.03, 10.36 [21.39], 11.53 [32.92], 13.16) (21.52/24.56).
HEATS (June 21)
I–1. Hall 44.60; 2. Boling 44.94 PR; 3. Judson Lincoln (VaT) 45.09; 4. Jenoah McKiver (Fl) 45.26; 5. Elija Godwin (adidas) 45.53; 6. Brian Herron (Tx) 46.32.
II–1. Wilson 44.66 HSR, WYR, AYR (old HSR 44.69 Darrell Robinson [Wilson, Tacoma Washington] ’82; old WYR, AYR 44.84[A] Justin Robinson [MoHS] ’19) (=8, x WJ; =2, =9 AJ);
2. Bailey 44.86; 3. Robinson 45.15; 4. Kennedy Lightner (Ky) 45.17 PR; 5. Emmanuel Bynum (unat) 45.34; 6. Jacory Patterson (unat) 45.46; 7. Eric Gregory (unat) 45.79.
III–1. Johnnie Blockburger (USC) 45.08; 2. Deadmon 45.21; 3. Logan Popelka (Tx) 45.22 PR; 4. Nathan Kent (Navy) 45.42 PR; 5. William Jones (USC) 45.50; 6. Jevon O’Bryant (TxAM) 45.51; 7. Willington Wright (unat) 45.55.
IV–1. Norwood 45.40; 2. McRae 45.54; 3. Brian Faust (GardStTC) 45.58; 4. Paul Dedewo (TS) 45.75; 5. Solomon Strader (Mia) 45.76; 6. Auhmad Robinson (TxAM) 46.02.
V–1. Norman 45.31; 2. Evan Miller (TS) 45.70; 3. TJ Tomlyanovich (Ar) 45.76; 4. James Benson (Ar) 45.81; 5. Trevor Stewart (unat) 45.83; 6. Rios Prude (Fl) 46.09; 7. Ryan Willie (adidas) 46.59.
SEMIS (June 23)
I–1. Hall 44.42; 2. Bailey 44.82; 3. Boling 44.91 PR; 4. Robinson 44.95; 5. Kent 45.32 PR; 6. Popelka 45.34; 7. Dedewo 45.36; 8. Strader 45.72; 9. Stewart 45.80.
II–1. Deadmon 44.44; 2. Norwood 44.50;
3. Wilson 44.59 HSR, WYR, AYR (old records Wilson 44.66 in heats);
4. Lincoln 44.98; 5. McKiver 45.12; 6. Benson 45.30; 7. Faust 45.41; 8. Patterson 45.89; 9. Godwin 46.73.
III–1. Norman 45.30; 2. McRae 45.59; 3. Blockburger 45.63; 4. Jones 46.19; 5. O’Bryant 46.39; 6. Bynum 46.50; 7. Tomlyanovich 46.65; 8. Miller 46.95; 9. Lightner 47.88.