Wilson ran a 44.66, breaking a record set by Darrell Robinson in 1982. One day later in the semifinal, he did it again with a 44.59 time that earned him a spot in the final. He trailed three runners on the final 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.
“There are a lot of us that felt maybe he ran too fast in the first round,” Boldon said. “This confirms this kid is a serious player. He came off the turn with work to do and work he did. These are grown men he’s running down!”
Wilson finished sixth place in the final two days later but his 44.94 was enough to get him on the U.S. Olympic 4×400 relay pool. He traveled to Paris with the team and found out he would lead off 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 squad but that it wasn’t going to stop him from running on the world stage.
“I didn’t come out there for nothing. I didn’t come out there to watch,” he said. “I’ve been training all my life for this, so I was just like, ‘Why not step on the track and give it all you got? You never know if you can have this opportunity again.’”
With all eyes on him, he ran a 47.27, far from his personal best. Maybe the injury got to him. Maybe it was the nerves. But strong times by his teammates got the U.S. into the final where Norwood, Deadmon, Bailey and Rai Benjamin claimed gold.