Quincy Hall is third former 3C2A athlete to win 400-meter gold medal

By Fred Baer

 

PARIS - Quincy Hall has brought 400-meter Olympic glory back to California Community Colleges, following in the footsteps of 1968 Olympic champion and world record breaker Lee Evans, out of San Jose City College, and Archie Williams from College of San Mateo -- the 1936 gold medalist. So Hall is the THIRD former CCC sprinter (all from the NorCal region) to win gold in the event. 

 

Hall, the most dominant CCC (3C4A) one-lap runner in 2017 at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, staged a dramatic victory in the Olympic 400 finale Wednesday night at Stade de France, coming from fourth place off the final turn to grab victory from Mathew Hudson-Smith of Great Britain in 43.40 seconds.

 

It was the second fastest time in Olympic history, behind the world record of 43.03 by Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa at Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Hudson-Smith broke his own British and European record, running 43.44. The first five finishers all ran under 44 seconds. It was the best times ever in a 400 meter race for places 2, 3, 4, and 5. 

 

"I just won," said Hall. "It's over! For the next four years I can say I'm the Olympic champion." 

 

The last American to win the 400 was LaShawn Merritt in 2008. The USA, however, had dominated the event throughout most of the 20th century and now has a total of 20 Olympic victories, dating to 1896. Michael Johnson, in 1996 and 2000, is the only 2-time American 400 gold medalist.

 

4x4 RELAY ON TAP: Hall still has more activity pending in Paris -- the 4 x 400-meter relay on Saturday night. 

 

He admits to growing up contesting everything from 200 to 1,500 meters -- and even running cross country. He had specialized in the 400 hurdles since his collegiate beginnings at Sequoias. 

 

"First a shoutout to California Community Colleges," he said. "That's where I feel I found myself."

 

He often ran three 1-lap races in a meet: the flat 400, the 400 hurdles, and the 4x400 relay. 

 

Hall just switched to concentrating on the 400 flat race a year ago. He made the USA team and took the bronze medal in the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest (and was part of the USA gold medal 4 x 400 meter relay).

 

"I don't give up. I just grit. I grind. I've got determination," said Hall. "Anything I think will get me to that line, I think of it." 

 

Here are Hall's official 50-meter splits and place at each stage of his Olympic race:

50: 6.16 (6th), 100: 11.01 (6), 150: 15.89 (6), 200: 21.90 (5), 250: 26.34 (4), 300: 31.81 (4), 350: 37.46 (3), 400: 43.40 (1). 

 

The world record of 43.86 by Evans in 1968 lasted for nearly 20 years. The 19 years, 9 months, and 30-day period until Butch Reynolds topped it in 1988, is the long anyone has held the world mark. Michael Johnson took the record down to 43.18 in 1999. The USA finally lost the record at the 2016 Olympics when van Niekerk set the current mark. 

 

Johnson, doing TV commentary in Paris, said he thought that Hall could go a lot quicker if he got everything right -- with the record just four-tenths of a second away. When asked to comment, Hall said,  "Yes, Michael Johnson is right. There're a lot of things (I can do) that will make me able to run faster in my races."

 

NOTES: 

-- Hall led COS to the 2017 3C2A men's track and field title, winning the flat 400 (46.72) and the 400 hurdles (50.57) and then running a 44.8 second leg on the Giants' winning 4x400 meter relay team.

 

-- Andre Phillips from San Jose CC was the 1988 Olympic gold medalist in the 400 hurdles -- so the 3C4A can claim four 1-lap gold medallists (among a plethora of Olympic stars).