Ontario sprinter breaks Canadian indoor 400m record
Christopher Morales Williams of Vaughan, Ont., broke the Canadian 400m record, which had stood for 16 years
Photo by:
Muad Issa (@muadems)
Christopher Morales Williams of Vaughan, Ont., broke the long-standing Canadian 400m indoor record on Friday at the Tiger Paw Invitational in Clemson, S.C. Morales Williams ran 45.39 seconds, smashing his personal best over 400m by more than half a second.
At 19, Morales Williams is one of the top up-and-coming athletes in Canadian track and field. His time broke the Canadian indoor 400m record of 45.67 held by Tyler Christopher, set when he won the world 400m indoor title at the 2008 World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain.
Morales Williams, who is only 19, set two Canadian records with one run. He now holds the U23 and senior national records in the distance. The young sprinter has had a stellar start to his 2024 season, setting Canadian records in the 300m and 400m indoors, plus earning an automatic qualifying spot on Team Canada for next month’s World Indoor Championships in Glasgow.
Morales Williams is in his second year at the University of Georgia, and his new personal best puts him third in the school record books and third in the NCAA this season, as well as in the world 400m rankings.
🚨 He’s done it again‼️🚨
Christopher Morales Williams blisters his previous CANADIAN NATIONAL RECORD in the 400m with a 45.39 to win the Tiger Paw Invite.
CMW stands 3️⃣ on #Dawgs all-time list & on ‘24 #NCAATF & 🌎 lists. 💪 #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/64YCwmSdq0
— Georgia Track + Field (@UGATrack) February 9, 2024
Last summer at the 2023 Canadian Track and Field Championships, Morales Williams won his first senior national title in the men’s 400m.
Team Canada has not sent any athletes in the men’s 400m to the past two Olympic Games. Morales Williams, currently ranked third in the NCAA, has the opportunity to become the first man to represent Canada at an Olympic Games since Daundre Barnaby at the London Olympics in 2012. Barnaby disappeared while swimming in the ocean in St. Kitts and Nevis during an Athletics Canada training camp in 2015. He was 24.
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