Britton Wilson

Britton Wilson (born 13 November 2000) is  an American track and field athlete specializing in the 400 meters hurdles and 400 meters. She finished fifth in the 400 m hurdles at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, her major championship debut. Wilson is the North American indoor record holder for the 400 m dash with a time of 49.48 seconds, set on March 11, 2023, in Albuquerque.

She was the first North American woman to break the 50-second barrier and only the second woman ever under 49.50 s in the indoor 400 m. At the same meet in March 2023, she was part of the mixed nationality women's team that set the fastest indoor performance in history in the 4 × 400 m relay with 3:21.75. At the time, her split of 49.19 s was the fastest indoor split in world history. Wilson is a two-time individual NCAA Division I champion.

Career

2021–2022
Initially a student at the University of Tennessee, Wilson switched to University of Arkansas in 2021 after suffering mental health issues. The change to Arkansas proved a catalyst to her most successful season as she won the 400 meters hurdles at the NCAA Division I Outdoors in June 2022 representing the Arkansas Razorbacks in a time of 53.86, finishing nearly a whole second ahead of second-placed Anna Hall. Prior to this Wilson had won both the 400 m hurdles and 400 m dash at the SEC Championships as well as helped the Razorbacks to third in the 4 x 400 m relay with a split time of 48.60, the fastest ever single lap in collegiate history.

She finished second in the 400 m hurdles to world record holder Sydney McLaughlin at the 2022 USATF Championships as McLaughlin broke her own world record. Wilson ran a personal best time of 53.08 as runner up. She was named in the American squad for the 2022 World Athletics Championships, where she placed fifth in the final in a time of 54.02 s.

2023–present
Wilson’s 2023 indoor season started with a collegiate indoor record in the 600 m with a time of 1:25.16, beating Athing Mu's previous best set in 2021. On March 11 at the NCCA Division I Indoors in Albuquerque, New Mexico (at altitude), she broke the North American indoor 400 m record by over half a second with the second-fastest mark on the respective world all-time list of 49.48 seconds, a time that would have been a world indoor record before February 19 when Femke Bol achieved 49.26 s. It was the fastest ever run by a collegian indoors or out as Wilson's mark bettered Mu's NCAA outdoor record (49.57). She added title for the 4 x 400 m relay with a 49.19 s anchor, the fastest indoor split in world history.

Britton showed no mercy to the collegiate record book about a month later again and eventually broke Mu's outdoor record too, clocking 49.51 s at the Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville, Florida. She lowered her record to 49.13 seconds at the SEC Championships in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a further month later, on May 13, to move up to fourth / eighth / 17th on the U.S. / NACAC / world all-time lists respectively. The 22-year-old won also the 400 m hurdles in 53.28 s just an hour later to achieve the best ever one-day such double.

Competing at the 2023 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, in Eugene, Oregon, she finished second in the final of the 400m. A few days later on July 10, Wilson announced she would forego the rest of her NCAA eligibly and had signed a professional contract with Adidas. She was selected for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August 2023.

Achievements

Personal bests

International competitions

National championships

Sources:Britton Wilson profile – TFRRS

References

External links
 
 Arkansas Razorbacks bio
 Tennessee Volunteers bio

2000 births
Living people
World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States
Arkansas Razorbacks women's track and field athletes
Tennessee Volunteers women's track and field athletes
American female hurdlers
21st-century American women
World Athletics Championships medalists
World Athletics Championships winners