Canadian teenager clocks 44.49 in Fayetteville to become the quickest 400m runner of all time on an indoor circuit

In one of the biggest surprises of 2024 so far, Christopher Morales Williams ran the fastest time ever for 400m indoors of 44.49 on Saturday (Feb 24).

Racing at the SEC Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the 19-year-old from Canada beat Kerron Clements world record of 44.57, which was set in 2005.

He was also inside Mike Normans 44.52 from 2018, which was never ratified as a world record. With drug testing not always present at US collegiate meetings, there is a chance Morales Williams mark might suffer the same fate.

Morales Williams run came just one week after Femke Bol improved her own world indoor record in the womens 400m to 49.24 at the Dutch Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn.

Morales Williams was part of Canadas world under-20 bronze medal-winning 4x400m team in Cali in 2022 and went on to claim Pan-American under-20 400m silver the following year.

He ran an indoor PB of 46.05 on his 400m season opener in Boston in January and then 45.39 in Clemson before his record-breaking run this weekend.

ICYMI, Christopher Morales Williams clocks 44.49 for the fastest 400m indoors in history. pic.twitter.com/CX13jDU4ua

AW (@AthleticsWeekly) February 25, 2024