Canadian teenager sets new track and field world record
Canada seems to have found its next track and field star.
On Saturday afternoon at the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships, 19-year-old Canadian Christopher Morales Williams blew away the competition in the 400-metre race.
Morales Williams, a native of Vaughan, Ontario, and a sophomore at the University of Georgia, ran a time of 44.49 in the race to set a new world record for an indoor 400-metre race.
An insane 44.49 world record in the men’s 400m from @UGATrack’s Christopher Morales Williams at the SEC Indoor Championships.
pic.twitter.com/fA2RCta83r— FloTrack (@FloTrack) February 25, 2024
He was able to shave nearly a full second off his prior best time, running a time of 45.39 earlier this month.
The University of Arkansas hosted the meet, with the race being held at the Lance Harter Track at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
Morales Williams’ time tops the previous record, a mark of 44.57 set by American Kerron Clement in 2005 at the same facility in Arkansas.
“It means the world to me, it just means I’m on the right track for now,” Morales Williams said after the race. “That world record, that’s something you wouldn’t really expect to happen.”
The current outdoor world record is 43.03, set in 2016 in Brazil by South African runner Wayde Van Niekerk. Besides the obvious differences in controlled environments, the nature of the two races also differs, with a standard indoor track being just 200 metres in length compared to the 400 metres on an outdoor track.
Throughout his career, Morales Williams has picked up all sorts of accolades, including the gold medal at the U20 Canadian National championships and the Under-20 World Championships bronze medalist in the 4×400 relay.
The Canadian Olympic Track and Field trials are set for later this year, when they’ll be hosted in Montreal from June 26 to 30. The Olympic Games are set for a month later, starting on July 26 in Paris, France.
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