Coco Gauff and Ben Shelton react as Quincy Wilson scripts history at Paris Olympics in 4x400m to become youngest gold medalist from US
Team USA's Quincy Wilson rejoiced in becoming the youngest Olympic gold medalist. The 16-year-old ran the first leg in Friday's qualifying heat, helping Team USA secure third place and advance to the Olympic final in the men's 4x400m relay. His achievement later drew reactions from American tennis players Coco Gauff and Ben Shelton.
Wilson secured his place on the USA Olympic team with an impressive performance at the June trials, where he set the under-18 world record in the 400 meters with a time of 44.59 seconds
USA's Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon, Rai Benjamin, and Christopher Bailey, set an Olympic record of 2:54.43 in the final to claim the gold. Botswana took silver, while Great Britain claimed the bronze medal.
Although Wilson didn't compete in the final, his inclusion in the squad made him the youngest Olympic gold medalist, breaking the record set by Bob Mathias, who won gold at 17 in the 1948 London Olympics. Wilson later celebrated this achievement on Instagram and wrote,
"I did what people said was the impossible… I’m the youngest US male track athlete to receive a gold medal at the Olympics !," he wrote.
American tennis players, Coco Gauff and Ben Shelton shared their reactions to the post in the comments.
Gauff wrote:
"perioddd"
Shelton wrote:
"Okay"
Coco Gauff announced she won't be competing in doubles at Cincinnati and US Open
Coco Gauff recently faced a third-round exit at the Canadian Open, losing to Diana Shnaider 6-4, 6-1. Later in the press conference, the American announced she would skip the doubles events at the Cincinnati Open and the US Open. Gauff added that she focused on doubles to succeed in the Olympics.
"No, I'm not going to be playing doubles. I just, the goal was to try to get as good as possible for the Olympics and then, yeah. Every week, week-in and week-out, I'm making the end of the week, if I'm playing singles and doubles usually I'm there at the semis at least in one event," Coco Gauff said [ at 5:37].
The 2023 US Open Champion further noted the difficulty of consistently performing well in both categories and indicated she might play doubles less frequently in the future.
"Yeah, it's just tough to go week-in and week-out on tour, so that's the reason why. But maybe next year I'll play here and there. I won't be playing doubles as consistently as I have been in the past, she added.
Coco Gauff's 2024 Paris Olympics did not go as planned, as the 20-year-old returned home without a medal. She lost to the eventual silver medalist Donna Vekic in the third round of the singles event. In women's doubles partnering with Jessica Pegula, she lost to the Czech pair of Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova 2-6, 6-4, 10-5 in the second round.
Gauff reached the quarterfinals in mixed doubles with Taylor Fritz, losing to Canada's Gaby Dabrowski and Felix Auger-Aliassime.