Reigning 400m National Champion Adekunle Fasasi has commenced the 2017 Athletics season with a bang! Fasasi was in action at the Clemson Orange and Purple Classic on 7th January where he broke Innocent Egbunike’s 26-year old former National Indoor Record of 33.34s to set a new time of 33.09s in his first ever 300m race (indoors).
The University of Florida Sophomore finished 2nd behind Freshman Grant Holloway. His time is ranked No. 9 on the collegiate all-time Top 10, is the 11th-fastest time in collegiate history, and third-fastest time in school history.
Holloway won the race in 32.80s, the second-fastest time by any man under the age of 20 years, and the third-fastest in collegiate history. He is also the first man in history to break 32.81s in the 300m and 7.65s in the 60m Hurdles. Senior Maurice Freeman was 3rd in 33.67s.
In a chat with Making of Champions, Fasasi disclosed that he wasn’t aware that he had broken the record until a teammate brought it to his notice.
He said: “I honestly didn’t know until Omeiza Akerele texted me to inform me. I just thought it was good. Although I had mixed feelings because I went into the meet with a sub-33 target but fell short, it was still a National Record.
“That’s definitely something to be thankful for considering the fact that I have not run many indoor races in my life; I never ran the 300m indoor too. So first race of the season being a good one, sets a good start to the season. My target for 2017 is summarized in one word – ‘Win’”.
The African Juniors Bronze medallist will compete next weekend at the Hokie Invitational at Virginia Tech.
