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On December 13, Niklas Klei of Kirchlengern, Germany ran a new 400-meter world record. No, he didn’t break Wayde van Niekerk’s 43.03 from the 2016 Olympics— but then again, van Niekerk wore high-tech carbon fiber sprinting spikes. Klei covered one lap of the track in 51.84 seconds—while wearing Crocs.
Back in January 2020, Olympic 800-meter finalist Nick Symmonds popularized the Crocs 400-meter dash in a YouTube video. The veteran set the record at 54.64. Since then, other runners chased the Crocs 400-meter world record, including Will Eggers, who set the previous record of 52.06 in June 2020.
Klei, 23, told Canadian Running that he thinks the record could drop below 50 seconds—especially because his Crocs were a size too big. Despite wearing three pairs of socks (and putting the Crocs in sport mode, where the movable strap sits behind the ankle to lock-in the foot), he started to slip out of the clogs by 100 meters. After the 2023 indoor track season, Klei and Eggers might meet up to race head-to-head to re-break the record.
Klei, who competes for Mississippi College, owns a 400-meter personal best of 47.10 when running in spikes. Eggers’ PR is 49.56. If wearing Crocs slowed them down just three to five seconds, could van Niekerk take a shot at a sub-48 in the foam clogs? Someone call his agent.
Chris Hatler is a writer and editor based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but before joining Runner’s World and Bicycling, he was a pro runner for Diadora, qualifying for multiple U.S. Championships in the 1500 meters. At his alma mater the University of Pennsylvania, Chris was a multiple-time Ivy League conference champion and sub-4 minute miler.
