Noah Lyles reacts to Quincy Hall's epic 400m gold medal run

Quincy Hall claimed the gold medal in Wednesday’s 400-meter final in dramatic fashion and earned a shoutout from fellow American sprinter Noah Lyles.

Lyles, who took the gold in Sunday’s 100-meter final, referred to Hall as a certified DAWG after he outlasted Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith in a comeback for the ages.

@QuincyHall400 = 🐶

— Noah Lyles, OLY (@LylesNoah) August 7, 2024

Hall, the former South Carolina standout, turned the final corner in fourth, well off the pace of Hudson-Smith and the leaders with 100 meters to go. He remarkably closed the gap with some long strides to win the first gold medal of his career. Hall’s time of 43:40 is the fifth-fastest time in 400-meter history and the United States’ first gold medal in the event since LaShawn Merritt’s win at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Hall qualified for the 400-meter final by way of his victories in his first heat and the semifinal heat.

Quincy Hall claims first career gold medal with incredible finish in 400m final

It’s validation for Hall, who despite taking bronze in the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, didn’t make the cut for the 4×400-meter relay team. Lyles chose himself, Christopher Bailey, Michael Norman and Rai Benjamin to represent the U.S. in the event. Lyles explained his decision to leave off Hall, saying he felt it’d be a “waste of his talents.”

“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 said last month. “Using him on the first leg would almost be like a waste of his talents.”

Both Hall and Lyles are now Olympic gold medalists, as is Cole Hocker, who won the 1500-meter final Tuesday. Lyles, coming off his 0.005-second victory over Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson in the 100-meter final, is going for his second gold medal in Thursday’s 200-meter final.

Lyles, who finished second in Wednesday’s 200-meter semifinal, has already guaranteed victory.

“I’ll be winning,” Lyles said. “None of them is winning. When I come off the turn, they will be depressed.”