Barring any bizarre, last-minute racing by the men ahead of him on the descending order list, Wilson will saunter onto the track in Paris having run the 8th fastest 400m in the world this year. And he’s only in the relay pool! (Fellow pool member Vernon Norwood’s 44.10 slots him in a three-way tie for fourth.)

These are the sorts of credentials that earn you a spot on the roster for the 4 x 400m final, and not just the prelim or mixed gender 4 x 400m. That statement alone is nuts – particularly given the historic strength and depth of Team USA in this event.

But what makes it truly nuts is that he just keeps getting better. Wilson has raced a lot more often this year than most of his professional competition, and it would be totally understandable that a season that began in the first half of January might result in some physical or mental fatigue for even a more experienced runner. Large improvement curves aren’t unexpected from high school phenoms getting older and jumping up to the next level, but still: Wilson entered the year with a 45.87 PB and ran 45.7, 45.2, 44.6, 44.5, and now 44.20 after successfully navigating three rounds of a senior U.S. championship.

A tremendous amount of praise is owed to Wilson, who has handled the spotlight admirably and seemed truly unflappable as he steps onto larger and larger stages. But we also need to give a huge round of applause to his coach, Joe Lee. The only thing potentially harder than being a generationally talented teen phenom athlete is having to coach one. And from the outside looking in, it appears Lee and Wilson have targeted this moment – a truly audacious thing to aim for at 16! – all along. It’s still early in Wilson’s story, but it sure looks like he and his coach are putting on a masterclass in how to develop a prodigy.

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