Paris Olympics: Quincy Hall comes from behind to win 400m

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SAINT-DENIS, France — Last month, during a podcast appearance, Noah Lyles mulled which sprinters he’d include on his dream American 4×400-meter relay.

Conspicuously absent from the selections that Lyles made was the man who won the U.S. title in the 400 at Olympic Trials this past June.

It’s probably safe to assume Lyles wouldn’t omit Quincy Hall again if he could have a do-over. The rapidly improving Hall ascended to new heights on Wednesday night when he emerged from a blazing-fast men’s 400 final with his first Olympic gold medal.

Running blind to the rest of the field from lane eight, Hall got off to a slow start and was still a distant fourth place with less than 100 meters to go. He passed Grenada’s Kirani James, Trinidad’s Jereem Richards and pre-race favorite Matthew Hudson-Smith of Great Britain, leaning at the finish line to seal the remarkable victory.

Hall’s winning time was a personal-best 43.40 seconds. That was enough to edge Hudson-Smith by four-hundredths of a second (43.44). Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga (43.74) took bronze.

For Hall, the podium finish further validated his decision to switch his focus from the 400-meter hurdles to the open 400 two years ago. He was the 2019 NCAA champion in the 400 hurdles at South Carolina, but earlier this summer, he told Olympics.com that he was “wasting time” running that event as a pro.

Hall didn’t finish his preliminary 400 hurdles heat at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials. He came in fifth at USA Nationals the following year. His best 400 hurdles times were fast, but not in the same class as the likes of Rai Benjamin, Karsten Warholms and Alison Dos Santos.

Since ditching the hurdles and focusing on the open 400 the past two years, Hall has been one of those elite guys. He had a breakthrough 2023, representing the U.S. for the first time at a global championship and earning bronze at the World Championships in Budapest. He lowered his career-best time in the 400 from 44.53 in college to 44.37 last year, to 43.80 seconds a few weeks before the Olympics began.

The choices that Lyles made for his all-star 4×400-meter relay team only provided Hall added motivation in advance of Paris.

Christopher Bailey was Lyles’ choice to lead off. Lyles designated himself the best option for the second leg even though he’s primarily known as a short sprinter. Michael Norman and Benjamin were Lyles’ choices for the second-to-last leg and the anchor position.

“The only reason I wouldn’t use the current U.S. champion is that I just don’t think he’d be a starter,” Lyles explained. “Using him on the first leg would almost be like a waste of his talents.”

On July 19, Hall tagged Lyles in a post on X and wrote, “My blocks ready anytime you feel like you can beat me in the 400.”

“You was talking [too] much on my name on yo little podcast,” Hall added. “I don’t do the little slick comments and remarks. I line up.”

Further proof of that came Wednesday night when Hall let his feet do the talking. He lined up against seven of the world’s best quarter-milers and beat all of them.