(Montreal) The world’s fastest man over 400 metres had no trouble qualifying for the distance final at the Canadian Track and Field Trials on Friday.
Ontario’s Christopher Morales-Williams stopped the clock at 45.77 seconds to win his heat, setting the fastest time of the day.
“It wasn’t bad. I just wanted to see where I was because I hadn’t run since the NCAA finals,” Morales-Williams said. I am still recovering from this competition. I feel pretty good, but I haven’t got everything back yet. Let’s hope that [samedi] will be a better day. […] It went well, a well-oiled race that allowed me to reach the final.”
Vaughn’s sprinter finished ahead of Australian Steven Solomon (46.11), as well as reigning Olympic decathlon gold medalist Damien Warner (47.46). Warner will advance to the final.
“The plan was to stay well away from Christopher. On this point, it’s successful,” joked Warner, who is competing in this event more like a training session than to win.
Solomon is obviously automatically excluded as an international rider. As his time would have been sufficient, the final will be run by seven.
Morales-Williams has held the Canadian mark of 44.05 since last May. This is the fastest 400m run this season. The University of Georgia student has won all of his races over the distance this season.
“There’s always pressure, not just because I’m No. 1 in the world, but also because I’m a competitor,” Morales-Williams said. I put a lot of pressure on myself because anyone can win a race on any given day. »
Reigning national champion, he won the American university championship and currently ranks first in the world, having won the silver medal in 2023 at the Pan American Junior Championships.
“I want to defend my title,” admitted the Ontarian. Hopefully it won’t be too crazy, but if I have to run a big race, I will. I would rather not, because the guys who will be in the final in Paris will not have had a big university season like me. So I’m aiming for the title for more than a while [samedi]. »