Khaleb McRae runs 44.52 in Fayetteville, a world indoor 400 m record if ratified
At the Tyson Invitational the American took 0.05 off Kerron Clement's 2005 mark on the same track; Jordan Anthony ran 6.43 and Julien Alfred 6.99.
Khaleb McRae ran 44.52 for 400 metres on Friday at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas. If World Athletics ratifies it, it is the world indoor record. The old mark, 44.57, was set by Kerron Clement on the same track in 2005 and had stood for 21 years.
McRae went through the first 200 in 21.24 with William Jones close behind, then ran away from him. Jones was second, 1.11 seconds back. Two faster indoor times exist, Michael Norman's 44.52 and Christopher Morales Williams's 44.49, but neither could be ratified. USATF noted McRae's run ties Norman's ratified American record.
McRae is 25. His previous indoor best was 45.02, and his outdoor best is 43.91 from last year, when he reached the World Championships 400 m semi-final in Tokyo and won a silver medal in the 4x400 m relay. He opened this winter with a win at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston.
The meeting, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver stop, had more. Jordan Anthony ran a world-leading 6.43 for 60 m, Julien Alfred a world-leading 6.99 in the women's race ahead of Jacious Sears, 7.03, Britton Wilson a meeting record 50.66 for 400 m, and Cordell Tinch won the long jump at 8.29 m.
Two laps of a banked 200 m track and no room to drift. The indoor 400 is a brutal event and this was the fastest anyone has run it.
Sources: World Athletics; Athletics Weekly.
