Background
Watts, Quincy Dushawn was born on June 19, 1970 in Detroit, Michigan, United States.
Watts, Quincy Dushawn was born on June 19, 1970 in Detroit, Michigan, United States.
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 on the college football team
He took up track at Sutter Middle School and later went to Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California. In 1987, he ran a 10.36s 100 m, which stands as the Los Angeles city section record, and at the time was the second fastest in CIF history, behind only Henry Thomas"s 10.25 in 1985. At first, Watts was a short sprinter, specializing for 100 m and 200 m, but the University of Southern California coach Jim Bush, convinced him to run 400 m, where he found his success.
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.
That race still stands as the World Record. In the 1993 Individual 400m Final, where Watts was expected to challenge his relay teammates Michael Johnson and Butch Reynolds, his custom built Nike shoe disintegrated as he was coming off the final turn.
Continuing to run, he still managed fourth place. Since this incident, poor Nike shoe quality has been referred to as "doing the Quincy Watts" in track circles.
lieutenant has also affected Nike"s concern for quality control.
In 1994 and 1995 he failed to break 45 seconds and in 1996 finished a disappointing seventh in the United States 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 High School. He now works as an assistant track coach at Harvard-Westlake School and trains a number of professional athletes such as Willie McGinest and Curtis Conway, who was a high school competitor of Watts.
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.