Kahmari Montgomery (born August 16, 1997) is an American track and field sprinter specializing in the 400 m for Nike. He was the men's 400 m champion at the USA Championships in 2018, and at the NCAA Division I Championships in 2019. He represented the United States in the relay at the World U20 Championships in 2016 and at the inaugural Athletics World Cup in 2018, earning gold medals in both competitions.

In early 2018 he ran a 43.38 s relay split, one of the fastest of all time, setting a school record and bringing the Houston Cougars to their first victory in the event at the Penn Relays. In February 2019 he ran a 44.45 s indoor split, the third-fastest indoor split of all time, to help the Houston Cougars to what is recognized as the world record for the indoor relay with a time of 3:01.51.

Prep Montgomery competed for Plainfield Central High School. He ran the fifth-fastest 400 m in the United States for high school seniors in 2015. He was also No. 12 for the indoor 60 m, No. 14 for the 100 m, and No. 17 for the 200 m. Montgomery won five Illinois High School Association state track championship titles: the 100 m state title in 2015, the 200 m in 2014 and 2015, and the 400 m in 2014 and 2015.

College As a freshman competing for the Missouri Tigers in 2016, Montgomery won the indoor 400 m in 45.78 s and outdoor 400 m in 45.13 s to become a two time Southeastern Conference (SEC) champion. He made the semi-finals at both the indoor and outdoor NCAA Division I Championships, placing 11th and 9th respectively in the 400 m, and earned a silver medal at the USA Junior Championships. He competed at the USA Olympic Trials in the 400 m, though he did not advance from the preliminaries. He finished his season by earning a gold medal for the United States at the World U20 Championships in the 4 × 400 m relay.

In his sophomore season he had less success. He failed to reach the finals in either of the SEC Championships, failed to qualify for either of the NCAA Division I Championships, and did not approach his personal best times he had set in the prior year. However he represented the United States at the Universiade where he was introduced to Leroy Burrell, head coach of the Houston Cougars, and earned a silver medal in the 4 × 400 m relay. He decided to transfer to the University of Houston after his season ended, citing a positive experience with the team at the Universiade and a lack of belief in his ability to succeed as an athlete at the University of Missouri.

In his first year competing for the Houston Cougars in 2018, Montgomery won the indoor 400 m in 45.53 s, indoor 4 × 400 m in 3:10.03, and outdoor 400 m in 45.93 s to become a three time American Athletic Conference (AAC) champion. At the Penn Relays he ran one of the fastest 4 × 400 m relay splits ever, clocking the anchor leg in 43.38 s and helping earn the Houston Cougars their first Penn Relays 4 × 400 m relay title in a new school record time of 3:01.82. He made the finals at both the indoor and outdoor NCAA Division I Championships, placing 4th and 7th respectively. In his last individual race for the season at the USA Championships he won the 400 m in a personal best time of 44.58 s. He went on to compete for the United States at the inaugural Athletics World Cup and the NACAC Championships, earning gold medals at both competitions in the 4 × 400 m relay.

At the beginning of 2019, Montgomery was placed on the preseason watch list for The Bowerman. In February at the Clemson Tiger Paw Invitational he anchored Houston to victory in the relay with a world leading 3:01.51, the fourth fastest indoor performance of all time, and an indoor world record pending ratification. While not the fastest time achieved over the distance indoors, other faster times had not been ratified for various technical reasons. On February 26, 2020, Houston's indoor world record was ratified by World Athletics. Montgomery himself split 44.45 s, the third fastest indoor 400 m split of all time, to barely finish ahead of Texas A&M Aggie Devin Dixon, who recorded the fastest 400 m split of all time in 44.24 s. Two weeks later at the AAC Indoor Championships Montgomery repeated as 400 m champion with a world leading 45.04 s clocking. After the regional championships he was named co-athlete of the year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association in the south-central region, shared with Devin Dixon. He wrapped up his indoor season with second place in the 400 m at the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships in 45.03 s, a new indoor personal best, and the 4 × 400 m relay title.

Statistics Information from World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.

Personal bests Surface Event Time Venue Date NotesOutdoor 400 m 44.23 Austin, Texas, USA June 7, 2019 400 m (relay split) 43.38 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA April 28, 2018 200 m 20.35 Sacramento, California, USA May 25, 2018 (+1.6 m/s wind) 20.32  Wichita, Kansas, USA May 12, 2019 (+2.4 m/s wind) wind-assisted 4×400 m relay 2:59.78 London, England July 15, 2018 4×200 m relay 1:20.94 Austin, Texas, USA March 30, 2019 Indoor 400 m 45.03 Birmingham, Alabama, USA March 9, 2019 200 m 20.63 College Station, Texas, USA February 2, 2019 4×400 m relay 3:01.51 Clemson, South Carolina, USA February 9, 2019 Indoor , 44.45 s split

International championships results Year Competition Position Event Time Venue NotesRepresenting the United States2016 World U20 Championships 5th 400 m 46.48 Bydgoszcz, Poland 1st 4×400 m relay 3:02.39 , 2017 Universiade 2nd 4×400 m relay 3:06.38 Taipei, Taiwan 2018 Athletics World Cup 1st 4×400 m relay 2:59.78 London, England NACAC Championships 1st 4×400 m relay 3:00.60 Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Circuit wins Diamond League (400 m) Doha: 2020

National championships results +Representing the Missouri Tigers (2016–2017), the Houston Cougars (2018–2019), and Nike (2019–2021) Year Competition Position Event Time Venue Notes2016 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships 11th 400 m 46.78 Birmingham, Alabama NCAA Division I Championships 9th 400 m 45.81 Eugene, Oregon USA Junior Championships 3rd (semis) 200 m 20.80 Clovis, California (+0.8 m/s wind) , 2nd 400 m 45.64 USA Olympic Trials 26th 400 m 46.58 Eugene, Oregon 2018 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships 4th 400 m 45.24 College Station, Texas Indoor 13th 4×400 m relay 3:08.86 NCAA Division I Championships 7th 400 m 45.75 Eugene, Oregon 5th 4×400 m relay 3:04.03 USA Championships 1st 400 m 44.58 Des Moines, Iowa 2019 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships 2nd 400 m 45.03 Birmingham, Alabama Indoor 1st 4×400 m relay 3:05.04 NCAA Division I Championships 14th 200 m 20.49 Austin, Texas (+0.6 m/s wind)1st 400  m 44.23 3rd 4×400 m relay 3:00.07 2019 USA Championships 13th 400 m 45.91 Des Moines, Iowa 2021 US Olympic Trials 17th 400 m 45.85 Eugene, Oregon NCAA results from Track & Field Results Reporting System.

Seasonal bests

+400 m Year Time Venue Notes 2014 46.82 Charleston, Illinois, USA 2015 46.24 Charleston, Illinois, USA 2016 45.13 Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA 2017 46.57 Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA Indoor 2018 44.58 Des Moines, Iowa, USA 2019 44.23 Austin, Texas, USA 2020 45.50 Fehérvár, Hungary 2021 45.39 Miramar, Florida, US

+200 m Year Time Wind (m/s) Venue Notes 2013 22.18 Joliet, Illinois, USA No wind information 2014 21.25 -0.2 Charleston, Illinois, USA 2015 20.96 +1.8 Charleston, Illinois, USA 2016 20.80 +0.8 Clovis, California, USA 2017 21.21 Nashville, Tennessee, USA Indoor 2018 20.48 -0.4 Cincinnati, Ohio, USA 2019 20.32  +2.4 Wichita, Kansas, USA Wind-assisted 20.35 +1.6 Sacramento, California, USA 2020 21.32 Houston, Texas, USA Indoor 20.86  +3.2 Prairie View, Texas, USA Wind-assisted 2021 20.65 +1.4 Austin, Texas, USA

Notes

References

External links

(Houston) (Missouri) Kahmari Montgomery bio at Houston Cougars