Canada’s Christopher Morales Williams: “I want to make the Olympic 400m final”

It has been a whirlwind of a week for 19-year-old Christopher Morales Williams of Vaughan, Ont., who over the weekend set a new indoor world best in the men’s 400m at the SEC Conference Championships in Arkansas. In a matter of 44.49 seconds, Morales Williams went from NCAA sprint standout to Olympic medal contender, announcing himself on the world stage as an athlete to watch at the Paris Olympics in August.

Morales Williams told Canadian Running that he’s still in “complete awe” of what happened. “I did not even realize I set the NCAA record at first,” Morales Williams says. “It took me a moment to process that I just ran 44.49.”

Christopher Morales Williams ran the fastest indoor 400m in WORLD HISTORY (44.49)

He’s a sophomore at Georgia and 19-years-old 😳pic.twitter.com/qhxR5wPtMS

— Travis Miller (@travismillerx13) February 25, 2024

The 19-year-old sophomore has had a breakout season running for the University of Georgia and head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert. He has set three national records indoors and is on course to becoming the first Canadian 400m sprinter to represent Canada at an Olympic Games since London 2012. 

On Tuesday, it was revealed by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association that his 400m world record will not be ratified because starting blocks were not linked to a certified start information system as per Rule 15.3 of the World Athletics Technical Rules for obtaining reaction times. This means Morales Williams’s 400m time will be considered a world best instead of a world record. His time will stand as a Canadian national record and NCAA record. 

Other than the NCAA Championships, collegiate meets do not use electronic reaction times for sprint events. 

Morales Williams is in good hands, sharing the same coach as Canada’s most decorated track and field Olympian, Andre De Grasse. Morales Williams is coached by Tony Sharpe of Toronto’s Speed Academy, and Smith Gilbert, who mentored De Grasse during his NCAA career at the University of Southern California.

Morales Williams understands that with fast times come new expectations, but to this point, he has always thrived outside the spotlight. The lights on him are about to get brighter as he transitions into preparing for his first Olympic Games. Even though he now holds the NCAA record, the Georgia Bulldog sprinter says he doesn’t expect the breakout performance to change his goals. “It has given me a lot more confidence in myself but it doesn’t really change things this year,” reveals Morales Williams. “My biggest goal has always been to make the Olympics, but now I am confident in being there and even making it to the 400m final.”

His record-setting performance from the weekend likely solidified his spot on Team Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympics, hitting the men’s 400m standard of 45.00 seconds. He also achieved the 2024 World Indoor Championship standard with a 45.39-second performance earlier this season. However, he has chosen to forgo the indoor championships in Glasgow to focus on competing for the University of Georgia at the 2024 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 7-9 in Boston. “From the moment I arrived at Georgia, I’ve dreamt of winning an NCAA title–so I want to give myself a shot at it.”