On the second day of the New Balance Indoor Nationals in Boston, Quebec’s Mickael Allaire of Athlétisme Laval sprinted to a new Canadian U18 indoor record in the boys’ championship 400m.
✅️ National U18 Record
Mickael Allaire of Athlétisme Laval finished 2nd in his heat and 21st overall in the 400m with 48.62 at the New Balance National Indoors.
This time makes him the fastest U18 in 400m indoors in Canada pending ratification. pic.twitter.com/yPeOuUpeIP
— Spot Athlete (@SpotAthlete) March 14, 2025
The 16-year-old finished second in his heat in the qualifying round with a time of 48.62 seconds, lowering the previous record set in 2016 by a tenth of a second (pending ratification). The previous record of 48.72 seconds was set nine years ago in the same city at the 2016 David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University by another Quebec sprinter, William Gagnon.
Allaire’s time placed him 21st overall out of more than 100 athletes at the meet for the best high school track runners in North America. U.S. sprint phenom and Olympic gold medallist Quincy Wilson led the qualifying round with a time of 46.55 seconds. Only the top eight times in qualifying advanced to the final.
Allaire is no stranger to setting records. Last August, at the Canadian Legion Youth National Championships, an event held annually for U18 athletes, Allaire won gold in the 400m with a new Quebec provincial record of 47.90 seconds.
Although Allaire isn’t moving on to the final in the 400m, he has another event he’s already looking forward to at New Balance Indoor Nationals. He is entered in the boys’ championship 200m, which will kick off on Saturday morning. The U18 Canadian record in this event is 21.76 seconds and has stood since 1985. Allaire’s seed time is listed at 21.93.
How to follow and watch New Balance Indoor Nationals
The 2025 New Balance Indoor Nationals meet brings together top high school athletes from March 13-16 across the United States and Canada to compete for national titles in various disciplines. The event will be streamed live for free on YouTube, from Thursday at 3:00 p.m. ET, and continuing on the following days at 9:00 a.m. ET.
For more information on the event and schedule, visit here.
