Merritt clocks second fastest indoor 400m of all time

American LaShawn Merritt became the second fastest indoor 400 metres runner of all time while Kenyan Bernard Lagat ran the third quickest mile in history at the Fayetteville meeting in Arkansas. World junior champion Merritt, 18, stunned the crowd by...

American LaShawn Merritt became the second fastest indoor 400 metres runner of all time while Kenyan Bernard Lagat ran the third quickest mile in history at the Fayetteville meeting in Arkansas.

World junior champion Merritt, 18, stunned the crowd by clocking a time of 44.93 seconds. Only Michael Johnson has run faster, setting the world record of 44.63 in 1995 and running 44.66 in 1996. Merritt finished more than 7/10ths of a second ahead of compatriot Bershawn Jackson.

Olympic medallist Lagat, aiming for a world record time, clocked 3:49.89 seconds, behind only Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj's 1997 world indoor mile record of 3:48.45 and former world record holder Eamonn Coghlan of Ireland (3:49.78).

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