By Chris Chavez
May 15, 2023
Arkansas senior Britton Wilson continued her remarkable season and broke the collegiate record in the women's 400 meters for the fourth time this year.
At the 2023 SEC Outdoor Track Championships in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Wilson shattered the record in the preliminary round on May 12 and the final on May 13.
In the preliminary round, Wilson surpassed her own record with a stunning time of 49.40, bettering her previous mark of 49.51 which she ran at April’s Tom Jones Invitational in Gainesville, Florida. The 22-year-old defended her SEC title with a 49.13s in the final, which is also the fastest time in the world this year.
Only two women ran faster than 49.13s in 2022 – Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino (the World Championship silver medalist) and Shaunae Miller-Uibo (the World Championship gold medalist).
In March, Wilson shattered the indoor American and collegiate records with a time of 49.48 at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Her outdoor mark puts her at No. 4 on the all-time U.S. list. Wilson’s performance is the fastest 400m by an American woman since Sanya Richards-Ross ran 48.83 in September 2009.
UPDATED ALL-TIME U.S. 400M LIST
- Sanya Richards-Ross, 48.70 (Athens, Sept. 16, 2006)
- Valeria Brisco-Hooks, 48.83 (Los Angeles, Aug. 6, 1984)
- Chandra Cheeseborough, 49.05 (Los Angeles, Aug. 6, 1984)
- Britton Wilson, 49.13 (Baton Rouge, May 13, 2023)
- Allyson Felix, 49.26 (Beijing, Aug. 27, 2015
Just 90 minutes after her 400m final, Wilson won the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 53.28, which ranks as the fourth-fastest in collegiate history. Britton put together the best one-day 400m/400m hurdles performance in history. Last year, she ran 103.8s (51.05 for 400m / 53.75 for 400m hurdles) at the SEC Championships. This year she went, 102.41s (49.13 for 400m / 53.28 for 400m hurdles)
Chris Chavez
Chris Chavez launched CITIUS MAG in 2016 as a passion project while working full-time for Sports Illustrated. He covered the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and grew his humble blog into a multi-pronged media company. He completed all six World Marathon Majors and is an aspiring sub-five-minute miler.
