SAINT-DENIS, France — Quincy Hall’s kick feels like a fight against an invisible foe. Against the pain of a grueling lap. Against the will of his opponents. Against the hovering bubble of obscurity in which he’s been embedded.
But Hall wants that smoke. He lives for it. He strains and punches and grimaces not because he’s at his limits, but because his body is responding to his mindset. All his life, he had to fight. So when he came out of the final turn in the men’s 400 meters, in fourth place, looking in trouble, he knew victory was his. Because he is convinced, always, he’s got the most fight in him.
“I don’t give up, man,” Hall said. “I’ve got grit. I grind. I’ve got determination. Anything that I can think of that’s gonna get me to that line, I think of it. All the hurt. All the pain.”
NEVER doubt Quincy Hall. 😱
A EPIC comeback to win 400m GOLD! #ParisOlympics
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— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 7, 2024
One by one, Kansas City’s finest picked them off. First Grenada’s Kirani James. Then Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago, who jumped out early and led most of the way. Then, finally, he blew past Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith. The Olympic rookie looked anything but. They were fading. Hall was getting stronger.
He posted a personal best of 43.40 seconds — the fourth-fastest time ever — in a come-from-behind to snatch the gold away. Because it had to be snatched.
Hall prides himself on his kick. In the 400, the final 50 meters is as much a question of resolve as one of speed. That’s where Hall excels. Wednesday, he ran the final 50 meters in 5.94 seconds, the best in the field.
Sure, he’s fast. He’s technically proficient. He’s talented. But, most important, he’ll fight you for it. Hall ran the final 50 meters in 5.94 seconds, the fastest of anyone in the field. He ran the final stretch faster than the first 50 meters (6.16 seconds). Compare that 0.22-second improvement to silver medalist Hudson-Smith, who ran the final 50 meters 0.24 seconds slower than his first 50 meters.
“That’s what I’m known for. I’m known to finish,” Hall said. “If you don’t get far away from me enough, I’m gon’ catch you. Every time.
“As soon as they shot that gun,” he added, “I knew I had it. You can’t get far enough.”
Validation has been a long-time coming for Hall, who showed promise after getting a bronze in last year’s World Championships. He’s been dominant at every level in his career but hasn’t gotten a chance to shine on the big stage.
It was 40 years ago when Alonzo Babers won the men’s 400 meters at the Los Angeles Summer Games. It sparked a ridiculous run of seven straight Olympic cycles of Team USA gold.
But that run ended after LaShawn Merritt’s win in 2008. Those Beijing Games were the second consecutive American sweep in the 400. Since then, the American men have managed one bronze — Merritt in 2016 — in the 400 meters.
The quarter-mile is an American institution. One medal in 16 years is a disgrace to the name of the legendary Michael Johnson. It’s been a long quest for someone to return 400-meter glory to its rightful home.
Quincy Hall is about that life.
Before this gold medal, he was the definition of unheralded. He’s battled with injuries. He’s new to the Olympic stage. He doesn’t do much to bring attention to himself. He’d much prefer to “go fishing and ride my horse” or spend time caring for the pitbulls who have his heart. Such doesn’t garner the spotlight. But know this: Hall is elite.
It seemed as if the men’s 400-meter race was wide-open this year, especially with Jamaican Antonio Watson, the reigning world champion, not in Paris.
Hudson-Smith is ranked No. 2 in the world and he bested Hall in the 2023 World Championships. James is the first-ever with three Olympic medals in the 400, including gold in 2012, and he had the best time in the semifinals. Muzala Samukonga from Zambia set a national record in the semis (and wound up with a bronze medal). Even American Michael Norman looked really good leading to the finals. A bunch of possibilities figured to be in play.
But Hall is a different breed. He started at the community college level. He races with a gold grill in his mouth. He wears long, loose boxers under his kit. No bunch was going to bother him.
America needed a real one to go take what belongs to it in a race that’s been begging for an American star. Hall seemed to be built for it.
“Oh, that’s where that grit comes from,” Hall said of his JUCO days at the College of the Sequoias. “When you have no food. You’ve got to get your own food. No cafeteria. No study hall. None of that. You find out how to be a dog by yourself.”
Hall is often by himself practicing.
At South Carolina, he did the 400-meter hurdles along with the flat 400 meters. But after 2022, he dropped the hurdles and focused on the flat race. He said it was the best decision of his life. Harnessing his grind, focusing it, turned him into the best in the world.
“A lot of work,” he said. “A lot of hot, hot practices, being out there by myself, having to talk to my coach through the phone. And he’s just telling me, ‘Keep going. Keep going.’”
That work continues. Hall is a lock on the 4×400 relay team, where he could earn another gold medal.
Last month, Noah Lyles snubbed Hall from his ideal 4×400 relay team — of which Lyles said he’d run the second leg. He picked Rai Benjamin, the favorite in the 400-meter hurdles, to be the anchor in this hypothetical relay team.
Hall responded by challenging Lyles to a race in the 400. He reissued Wednesday, with gold medal credibility behind it. Because Hall is always down for a fight.
“He’s the Olympic champion in the 100,” Hall said of Lyles. “He may be the Olympic champion in the 200. So maybe he can see me in the 400. The Olympic champion in the 400.”
Required reading
(Photo: Al Bello / Getty Images)
