Cristopher Morales Williams broke the world indoor 400-meter record on Saturday, February 24, during the SEC Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The event was won by the 19-year-old Canadian in 44.49 seconds, besting the previous mark of 44.57 seconds set on the same course by American Kerron Clement in 2005. Furthermore, he outperformed Michael Norman's 2018 effort of 44.52, which was disregarded as a world record.

The University of Georgia sophomore had a strong performance on Friday, winning his heat in 45.58. He continued his dominance on Saturday, despite feeling sick in the morning. He won the race by more than a second, lowering his personal best by 0.9 seconds from the Clemson Tiger Paw Invitational earlier this month.

Morales Williams has a history of success in the 4x400m relay, winning bronze at the world U20 championships in Cali in 2022 and silver at the Pan American U20 championships in 2023. He is also the national outdoor champion in the 400m.

His remarkable achievement comes just a week after Femke Bol set a new women’s world indoor 400m record.