Canada's Christopher Morales Williams wins 400m gold, sets championship record at indoor worlds

Canada's Christopher Morales Williams was as good as gold Saturday at the world indoor track and field championships.

Morales Williams. of Vaughan, Ont., won the men's 400-metre final in a championship-record time of 44.76 seconds. He finished ahead of American Khaleb McRae (45.03) and Trinidad's Jareem Richards (45.39), the 2022 world indoor champion and former championship record-holder.

"I have worked hard for this," Morales Williams said. "A gold and a championship record — I could not ask for more."

Morales Williams ran the fastest short track time in history — 44.49 seconds — in 2024 but it could not be ratified as a world record due to an issue with the starting blocks.

"I may be new on the world stage but, having raced in the NCAA (University of Georgia), I have a lot of experience with indoor running," the Canadian said. "I was not worried about being behind for most of the race as closing is what I do best, so I actually love to be behind."

Morales Williams's victory comes after Sarah Mitton earned Canada a silver medal Friday in the women's shot put.

Morales Williams and McRae lined up alongside each other — McRae in lane No. 5 and Morales Williams in No. 6 after the Canadian clocked the fastest-ever world indoor championship heat time (45.51 seconds) on Friday morning. He then posted the fastest semifinal in event history (45.35 seconds) later in the day.

Morales Williams and McRae both started strongly and the anticipated head-to-head battle began to form as they broke at the same time.

McRae had the slight advantage around the bend and was a few strides ahead along the backstraight. But Morales Williams surged past McRae off the final curve and maintained that momentum to the finish.

The race was held under the new 400m format as the final was split into two sections with four athletes in each race using lanes No. 3 to No. 6. The three fastest times overall determined the medallists.

"The two-race final format is nothing new to me," Morales Williams said. "It is what I do in the NCAA and it actually makes more sense to me — it gives everyone a chance to win, there are no bad lanes.

"You race against the clock but first you have to beat the guys in your race. The win gives me a big boost for the outdoor season."

Watch live coverage of the indoor world championships on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. The full live streaming schedule is available here.