Quincy Watts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's Athletics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1992 Barcelona | 400 metres | |
| Gold | 1992 Barcelona | 4x400m relay | |
Quincy D. Watts (born June 19, 1970) is a former American athlete, winner of two gold medals at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Quincy Watts attended the University of Southern California where he excelled not only as an athlete but also as a wide receiver in the college football team. He was also a promising basketball player in high school.
At first, Watts was a short sprinter, specializing for 100 m and 200 m, but the USC coach Jim Bush, convinced him to run 400 m, where he found his success.
In 1992, by far his most successful year, he won the Olympic 400 m title. He twice broke Lee Evans' Olympic record of 43.86, (set at altitude during the 1968 games in Mexico), clocking 43.71 in his semi-final, before going on to record 43.50 in the final. He was a member of the 4 x 400 m relay team, running the second leg in 43.10, which smashed the world record in a time of 2:55.74.
At the World Championships in 1991, Watts won a silver medal in 4x400 relay, which he turned to gold in the next championships in 1993.
In 1994 and 1995 he failed to break 45 seconds and in 1996 finished a disappointing seventh in the US Olympic trials in a time of 45.64. Overshadowed by Michael Johnson, he retired in 1997 and was hired as the head coach to Taft Highschool.
But, clearly the highlight of Quincy's career was the electrifying run he put on in Barcelona in 1992, where he broke at almost a full sprint while everyone else was pacing themselves for the first 100-meters or so. The crowd was stunned to see him not run out of gas as he came from anonymity to Olympic champion and Olympic record holder in the span of a very short 43+ seconds. Quincy's run was one of the great track and field moments of the entire Barcelona games.
| Olympic champions in men's 400 m |
|---|
| 1896: Tom Burke | 1900: Maxey Long | 1904: Harry Hillman | 1906: Paul Pilgrim | Wyndham Halswelle | 1912: Charles Reidpath | 1920: Bevil Rudd | 1924: Eric Liddell | 1928: Ray Barbuti | 1932: Bill Carr | 1936: Archie Williams | 1948: Arthur Wint | 1952: George Rhoden | 1956: Charlie Jenkins | 1960: Otis Davis | 1964: Michael Larrabee | 1968: Lee Evans | 1972: Vincent Matthews | 1976: Alberto Juantorena | 1980: Viktor Markin | 1984: Alonzo Babers | 1988: Steve Lewis | 1992: Quincy Watts | 1996: Michael Johnson | 2000: Michael Johnson | 2004: Jeremy Wariner |
