A CONVERSATION HE HAD with one of his college coaches changed everything for Khaleb McRae. Despite running 44.68 in the 400, he had never made an NCAA final while at Alabama. “That was kind of big for me,” he admits.
“But one of my coaches always told me, he was like, ‘Michael Johnson never won an NCAA title, and he’s the World Record holder [was for 17 years, to be completely accurate] and he won so many things after college.’ That stuck with me, and now it’s showing.”
It showed big on February 13 at the Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, when the 25-year-old slashed a half-second off his best indoor time to set the World Record with a 44.52. (Unlike Michael Norman’s never-ratified 44.52 from ’18, it appears McRae’s mark, with all required conditions met, is likely to be ratified as the WR.)
Happy with his season opener of 45.38 three weeks earlier, McRae says, “It felt pretty comfortable. I just made a few adjustments. I wanted to pick it up on my second lap a little more. We went down to Arkansas and I just executed and the time showed for itself.”
The plan going in was just to beat 44.88. “I felt like my floor was 44.88. I knew the World Record was in my capability. I had a good practice the week before; I was able to run hand- timed 44.72. That was a good indication for me. So, I went in with the mindset of just running 44.88 and better and came away with the World Record.
“I’m not going to say I was surprised, but it was definitely surreal. Just to actually turn around and see 44.52 on the clock, that was crazy. But it wasn’t unexpected.
“I would say it felt easier than I expected. But a lot of times with me, once you go out there and execute, stuff becomes easier. So, I go out there with a plan now, and I just stick to my plan. And once you do that, the time shows.”
That McRae even made it this far is a tribute to a deep-rooted motivation that persisted after one of his deepest disappointments. In his senior season for the Crimson Tide, 2024, he clocked that PR 44.68 to place 3rd in the SEC. But he got stuck in the semis at the NCAA finals.
He returned to Hayward Field a few weeks later for the Olympic Trials. He made it to the final, drawing lane 4, with Norman in the lane to his right. He tried to keep up with the former world champion and was in 3rd at halfway. Then the pain hit, and he struggled to hold his form on the final stretch. He faded to 7th in 45.06, one spot away from making the relay pool.
“That was heartbreaking for me. I went home and for about an 8-month stretch, I thought it was over.”
In February of ’25, he says, “I got an opportunity to go down to Atlanta. I signed with an agent, and I was able to go down to Atlanta and start training again. And I was like, not saying now or never, but I just put all my eggs into it.”
Training alongside former college teammate Chris Robinson, he had his work cut out for him. “I knew what I had to do, and I always knew what I could do.” By June he had hit 44.72. A week later in London, Ontario, he produced a sterling PR of 43.91. He placed 3rd at USATF in 44.45, sealing his ticket to Tokyo. There he ran 44.25 in the heats before placing a non-advancing 4th in his semi.
Five days later, he ran a 44.61 for the third leg on the relay, helping the U.S. to a silver in a hard-fought battle with Botswana.
“A lot of people would say it was kind of disappointing, but I never got down on it because that was my first year on the pro circuit, and we all know how hard track & field is. If you had asked me ‘Would I even be here?’ 6 months earlier, I would have looked at you like you were crazy. But just to even be there and make the semifinal, then become a world silver medalist, I didn’t frown upon it because I knew I’d be back.”
Last November, he and Robinson joined another former Alabama sprinter, Trinidadian Jereem Richards, in Clermont, Florida, to train under Lance Brauman. “Some would say it’s a big transition but for me, I would say, I believe Coach Brauman and my college coach, Blaine Wiley, they have similar programs, so the adjustment for me wasn’t too different, and I got acclimated pretty quickly.”
It helps to be around training partners that he already felt comfortable with, like Robinson. “We’re still together. And Jereem Richards [the ’22 World Indoor champion and silver medalist last year] and a few more for sure. We all push each other… We do a lot of back-end runs and just running when I’m tired, working on my mechanics, focusing on my posture when I’m tired. That’s been the biggest change for me since I’ve been here.”
McRae says his focus for ’26 is all about winning. “I want to be a world champion, so I’m going down to New York next week [for USA Indoors]. And then we’ll go make that team, and then we’ll go to Poland and win a world championship. Then we’ll move on to outdoors.
“I ran 43 before, and that was big for me. But now it’s just about winning a world title. And whether that comes with an outdoor World Record or it comes with 43.2, 43.3, whatever it may be, I just want to go for a World Championship title.”
He’ll have to wait another year for the Worlds in Beijing, but he says, “We still have the Ultimate Championships this year, so I feel like that’s something I could go win myself. It might not be a major championship yet, but it’s definitely the championship I feel like everyone’s going to be at this year, so that’s what I’m gunning for now.”
He sees the coming big meets as a stairway that will lead him to the ‘28 Olympics. It will be the culmination of a dream that started when he was just 11. “I can still think back to the 2012 Olympics. It’s something I’ll always remember. I was sitting on the floor watching, and I was like, ‘I’m going to be there one day.’
“And now it’s kind of crazy because I’m doing the meets. I want to be there one day, and I’m still chasing that dream.”
He concludes, “I always knew the talent was there. It was just about getting out and showing it to the world. Now I’m kind of putting my foot down and just trying to show the world who I am.”
