It Was The Fastest Indoor 400 Ever, But No World Record
February 27, 2024 | Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Last Saturday night, Georgia sprinter Christopher Morales Williams ran the 400 meters faster than anyone ever has in an indoor race. As in ever. In the whole world. And he did it after spending much of that morning with his head in a toilet.
"I think being sick made me, I wasn't worried about the race or the results of the race," he said Monday. "It took my mind off of it. All I kept thinking about was, am I able to run?"
Oh, he could run. But notably missing from that first paragraph above are the words "world record." That's because, for reasons completely beyond his or Georgia's control, Morales Williams' blistering time of 44.49 seconds during the SEC Championships 400 final will not count as an official world record.
Due to a technicality relating to a piece of monitoring equipment not used for the race at Arkansas' Randal Tyson Track Center, World Athletics, track and field's governing body, has informed Georgia Director of Track & Field Caryl Smith Gilbert that Morales Williams' time will not supplant the 19-year-old mark of 44.57 seconds, set by American Kerron Clement on the same track.
Morales Williams, a 19-year-old sophomore from Canada, has taken the news surprisingly well.
"It doesn't change the fact that I still ran the time. It's still the fastest time in the world, so it really doesn't bother me at all. It's not ratified, but it's still there," he said. "It really doesn't make too much of a difference. It doesn't bother me."
"We told him yesterday, you've got to stay focused on the process. Outcomes, they're going to be there, but if you don't do the process, then the outcome won't be there," Smith Gilbert said Tuesday.
Morales Williams ran the race of his young life despite an upset stomach that pretty much had him running on empty. He started on the outside lane and led from start to finish.
"Honestly, it leaves me in shock, still. It still surprises me that that happened," Morales Williams said of running so well while sick. "But it also motivates me to continue pushing forward. It lets me know that I'm on the right track, and there's still a lot more that I think I could leave on the track."
Smith Gilbert said she knew something special might be happening at the halfway point.
"His finish was very strong. How he came through the 200, in 21.1, 21.09, when I saw that I said, Oh, he's going to run 44 today if he hangs on," she said. "I knew it would be 44, but I didn't figure 44.4, so that last 100 meters in 11.9, it was pretty outstanding."
Doing the call during the television broadcast, longtime announcer Dwight Stones seemed surprised by what was unfolding in front of him as Morales Williams stayed ahead a strong field: "Oh, my goodness, did not see that coming. In fact, that's a world record!"
Except it wasn't. All new records must be ratified by World Athletics to be official, which means they have to meet certain standards. The reason that Morales Williams' time won't count as the official world record is that Arkansas did not have a false start detection system, such as one called Start Information System (SIS), in use for the race. It's still a collegiate record, it's still the fastest time ever, it's still the fastest 400 indoor time in the world this year, it's just not a World Athletics official world record.
The good news for Morales Williams and for Georgia is that racing indoors "is not really my favorite," he said. The 200-meter laps, the banked tracks, they're still new to him after not racing on them much at all in Canada, and then arriving at Georgia last January.
"I've never actually been good at indoor before this. We don't have (many) banked tracks in Canada, so I never really ran on one until last year (other than one time)," he said. "It took me about a year to adjust. All of last year, I was trying to figure out (distances and pacing). My race plan for outdoors isn't the same for indoors."
Racing indoors, he said, "it's a much more strategic race. When it comes to thinking during the race, that's not really my strong suit. I try to just run fast, and not think about it too much."
And that's where being sick all morning might have actually helped Morales Williams. Given his physical condition at the start, he wasn't thinking about winning. His season best before Saturday was 45.39, and despite feeling weak and ill, he bested that mark by almost a full second.
"He probably got distracted from thinking about the race," Smith Gilbert said with a laugh. "I'm not exactly sure, but he did have a lot of turmoil, and he was able to pull it through."
Morales Williams is only 19, he's been training with Georgia for just 13 months, and at SECs he just ran the fastest 400 indoor race ever. His best indoor 400 a year ago was 47.42, almost three seconds slower than what he ran Saturday. Is he just scratching the surface of how good he can be?
"With Christopher, I actually really believe yes, he is," Smith Gilbert said.
Up next for Morales Williams and the Georgia men's and women's teams are the NCAA Indoor Championships next weekend in Boston. Let's hope all of the proper equipment is there and working as it should.
Staff Writer
Last Saturday night, Georgia sprinter Christopher Morales Williams ran the 400 meters faster than anyone ever has in an indoor race. As in ever. In the whole world. And he did it after spending much of that morning with his head in a toilet.
"I think being sick made me, I wasn't worried about the race or the results of the race," he said Monday. "It took my mind off of it. All I kept thinking about was, am I able to run?"
Oh, he could run. But notably missing from that first paragraph above are the words "world record." That's because, for reasons completely beyond his or Georgia's control, Morales Williams' blistering time of 44.49 seconds during the SEC Championships 400 final will not count as an official world record.
Due to a technicality relating to a piece of monitoring equipment not used for the race at Arkansas' Randal Tyson Track Center, World Athletics, track and field's governing body, has informed Georgia Director of Track & Field Caryl Smith Gilbert that Morales Williams' time will not supplant the 19-year-old mark of 44.57 seconds, set by American Kerron Clement on the same track.
Morales Williams, a 19-year-old sophomore from Canada, has taken the news surprisingly well.
"It doesn't change the fact that I still ran the time. It's still the fastest time in the world, so it really doesn't bother me at all. It's not ratified, but it's still there," he said. "It really doesn't make too much of a difference. It doesn't bother me."
"We told him yesterday, you've got to stay focused on the process. Outcomes, they're going to be there, but if you don't do the process, then the outcome won't be there," Smith Gilbert said Tuesday.
Morales Williams ran the race of his young life despite an upset stomach that pretty much had him running on empty. He started on the outside lane and led from start to finish.
"Honestly, it leaves me in shock, still. It still surprises me that that happened," Morales Williams said of running so well while sick. "But it also motivates me to continue pushing forward. It lets me know that I'm on the right track, and there's still a lot more that I think I could leave on the track."
Smith Gilbert said she knew something special might be happening at the halfway point.
"His finish was very strong. How he came through the 200, in 21.1, 21.09, when I saw that I said, Oh, he's going to run 44 today if he hangs on," she said. "I knew it would be 44, but I didn't figure 44.4, so that last 100 meters in 11.9, it was pretty outstanding."
Doing the call during the television broadcast, longtime announcer Dwight Stones seemed surprised by what was unfolding in front of him as Morales Williams stayed ahead a strong field: "Oh, my goodness, did not see that coming. In fact, that's a world record!"
Except it wasn't. All new records must be ratified by World Athletics to be official, which means they have to meet certain standards. The reason that Morales Williams' time won't count as the official world record is that Arkansas did not have a false start detection system, such as one called Start Information System (SIS), in use for the race. It's still a collegiate record, it's still the fastest time ever, it's still the fastest 400 indoor time in the world this year, it's just not a World Athletics official world record.
The good news for Morales Williams and for Georgia is that racing indoors "is not really my favorite," he said. The 200-meter laps, the banked tracks, they're still new to him after not racing on them much at all in Canada, and then arriving at Georgia last January.
"I've never actually been good at indoor before this. We don't have (many) banked tracks in Canada, so I never really ran on one until last year (other than one time)," he said. "It took me about a year to adjust. All of last year, I was trying to figure out (distances and pacing). My race plan for outdoors isn't the same for indoors."
Racing indoors, he said, "it's a much more strategic race. When it comes to thinking during the race, that's not really my strong suit. I try to just run fast, and not think about it too much."
And that's where being sick all morning might have actually helped Morales Williams. Given his physical condition at the start, he wasn't thinking about winning. His season best before Saturday was 45.39, and despite feeling weak and ill, he bested that mark by almost a full second.
"He probably got distracted from thinking about the race," Smith Gilbert said with a laugh. "I'm not exactly sure, but he did have a lot of turmoil, and he was able to pull it through."
Morales Williams is only 19, he's been training with Georgia for just 13 months, and at SECs he just ran the fastest 400 indoor race ever. His best indoor 400 a year ago was 47.42, almost three seconds slower than what he ran Saturday. Is he just scratching the surface of how good he can be?
"With Christopher, I actually really believe yes, he is," Smith Gilbert said.
Up next for Morales Williams and the Georgia men's and women's teams are the NCAA Indoor Championships next weekend in Boston. Let's hope all of the proper equipment is there and working as it should.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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