New national record in indoor 400m
Another cool indoor track story that slipped under my radar earlier.
On February 9, Canadian sprinter Christopher Morales Williams (of Vaughan, Ontario), running for the University of Georgia, ran a new Canadian indoor record in the 400m, in 45.39 seconds. This takes down the old mark from Tyler Christopher of 45.67 (Christopher still holds the current outdoor 400m record of 44.44).
This is a pretty significant breakthrough for Morales Williams, taking over half a second off his indoor PB, and also better than his current outdoor PB of 45.48 set in his victory at last year’s Canadian championships.
Considering that conventional wisdom would tend to predict a speed up of half a second or more going from indoors to outdoors in the 400m, that could put him in reach of a 44-high this summer, which would bode well for him in an Olympic year. (Canada hasn’t sent a male 400m runner since 2012). It would be a great learning experience for an up-and-coming 19 year old athlete.
Hopefully he can avoid the usual pitfalls that face NCAA track stars in Olympic years. With the indoor season, then the NCAA outdoor season in the spring, and college coaches trying to milk their athletes for points at conference and national championships meets, it can hard to sustain that high level through to peak performance in July. Just ask former U. Georgia sprint star and Total Running Productions fanboy favorite Matthew Boling. ;)
It’s a great time for Canadian track. A strong 400m athlete fills in a gap in the lineup. We’ve got short sprint talent, with DeGrasse still respectably in the mix. Arop in the 800m. Charles Philibert-Thibobeau and Kieran Lumb in middle distance. Mo Ahmed in long distance.
Looking forward to seeing what this young man can do in the future.
