Canada's Christopher Morales Williams broke a world indoor record in the 400 meters at the SEC championships on Saturday in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The 19-year-old Georgia sophomore turned in a time of 44.49 seconds to beat the previous mark of 44.57 set by American Kerron Clement in 2005 on the same track.
Morales Williams shaved almost a second off his previous best time set earlier in the month.
The Canadian from Vaughan, just north of Toronto, missed two years of high school athletics when schools closed during the pandemic. During that time he did daily solo long-distance runs for training, working up to 7.5 miles.
Morales Williams chose Georgia largely thanks to coach Caryl Smith Gilbert, who coached fellow Canadian sprinter and Olympic champion Andre De Grasse at USC.
His record is subject to the World Athletics ratification process.
The Arkansas men's and women's teams swept the SEC titles for the fifth consecutive year.
Reuters contributed to this report.
