Wayde van Niekerk se teleurstelling was duidelik nadat hy in die halfeindronde van die 400 m uitgeskakel is in Tokio. Foto: Getty Images
- After six years off his best due to a knee injury, SA world 400m record holder Wayde van Niekerk will be bidding for redemption from the all too familiar place of lane eight in his World Championships semi-final.
- The lane is where Van Niekerk won Olympic gold and broke the world record from that lane in Rio in 2016.
- Van Niekerk, who won his heat in a time of 44.57sec and was second-fastest from the qualifiers, is looking to advance to the final, where he hopes to win his first major championship medal since before his injury in 2017.
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If Wayde van Niekerk is searching for omens ahead of his first 400m World Championship semi-final since suffering his catastrophic knee injury in 2017, the fact that he will be running Tuesday night’s race in lane eight (start time 21.00) should act as something of a comfort blanket.
Lane eight – unfashionable in athletics until Van Niekerk made it iconic at the Rio Olympics in 2016 – is the position from which the South African made history by breaking the world record in winning his Olympic gold medal.
So, finding himself racing in it should help calm the nerves which must be circling the closer he inches towards redemption in Budapest, having not quite been himself for a full five years after injuring himself after the London World Championships six years ago.
Van Niekerk’s progress to the potential winner’s circle has been painstaking, fading to fifth in his Tokyo Olympics semi-final in 2021 and the same position in the final at the world champs in Oregon last year. But each time his times have shown an upward trend – the Tokyo semi-final was run in 45.14 sec and the Eugene final in 44.97sec.
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Said progress has hit something approaching overdrive this season, with Van Niekerk winning all eight of his races thus far, his fastest time of 44.08sec being the fourth fastest in the world this year. The last of those wins was his heat, which he won in 44.57sec, the second fastest time of the heats, on Sunday.
“It was a positive effort,” he told reporters in the mixed zone afterwards. “(Great Britain’s) Matt (Hudson-Smith) was having a good run so I just used him [as a point of reference] until the last 100m and then just fought for the first place. I’m satisfied with how the race went.
“The heats and semi-finals are about surviving, so I had to read my competitors and engage with them. I think it should be a similar strategy in the semis and then give it [all] that’s left in the final.”
Van Niekerk voiced his happiness with a season in which he has had a 100% win ratio.
“It’s been a positive season, with constant improvements and consistency. I really can’t complain but every competition and championship has its own challenges, but so far it’s been good and positive and I’ve had a great opening race, so I can’t complain.”
Speaking to News24 ahead of the World Championships, French sprints and throws coach PJ Vazel said Van Niekerk had that golden look about him again, even though he has yet to break 44 seconds this season.
“He’s run his fastest time since the 2017 world champs (in London),” Vazel explained.
“So, it’s been a long journey and now it seems like he’s back to gold [medal] potential. (The Bahamas, Tokyo Olympics and 2019 world champion Steven) Gardiner is peaking at the right time. He’s the favourite, but I can see Wayde van Niekerk challenging him. Van Niekerk didn’t run a sub-44 before the world record in Rio, so it’s not alarming.
“Lance Brauman (Van Niekerk’s and 100m champion Noah Lyles’ coach) is one of the most successful coaches of the last two decades – he knows how to prepare athletes for the big show.”
The big show is certainly upon Van Niekerk, with Thursday night’s date with redemption looming.
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