Quincy Hall became the latest US athlete to electrify Olympic track and field with an out-of-nowhere comeback, sprinting from far behind in the 400m on Wednesday night to reel in three runners and capture another gold medal for the US.
Hall, buried in fourth place as the sprinters rounded the last bend, outran the runner on his outside, then two more to the inside to cross the line in 43.40 seconds, the fourth-fastest time ever. He dropped to the track to do snow angels to celebrate.
“I’ve got determination,” Hall said. “That’s what got me to that line. A lot of hurt, a lot of pain.”
Photo: Reuters
Hall beat Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith by 0.04 seconds — that is now the fifth-fastest time in history — and Muzala Samukonga of Zambia finished third.
Hall is the first US athlete since LaShawn Merritt in 2008 to capture gold in the one-lap race. His victory came an evening after US’ Cole Hocker came from far behind late to beat the favorites in the men’s 1500.
Add in Noah Lyles, whose only lead in his 100m thriller came when he crossed the finish line, and these US athletes are turning into quite the comeback kids.
The win came about an hour after Lyles advanced to the final of the 200m despite finishing second to Letsile Tebogo in his semi-final. Lyles was to race for the gold medal yesterday.
Hall, the 26-year-old who breeds dogs and loves riding horses, looked out of the running in a race that is all about pace and, more often than not, the problem is going too fast too soon.
He was 5m behind Hudson-Smith and 2012 champion Kirani James, both to his left, and as they rounded the final curve, and was making up ground on Jareem Richards to his outside for what looked like would be a good battle for bronze.
By the end, James and Richards were afterthoughts, Hall was thrusting his chest at the line to beat the Brit and Samukonga had also come from out of nowhere to take third.
“I just won. It’s over. Next four years, I can say I’m Olympic champion,” Hall said.
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