The South African claimed the gold medal in a time of 43.03s as he broke Johnson’s long-standing world record in Rio de Janeiro and the legendary American admitted that he had been left stunned by the performance.
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Van Niekerk has now completed the double after winning the 400m title at last year’s world championships in Beijing, with Monday morning’s (SA time) proved that the world title was no fluke.
Kirani James of Grenada took the silver while bronze went to LaShawn Merritt of the United States. “We have put this sport on a pedestal”.
James set off fast at the start of the race, but Van Niekerk powered around the final bend to win his first Olympic medal.
As the two runners came around the final turn, it was clear that Van Niekerk wasn’t just ahead of Merritt and the rest of the field-he was leaving them in the dust.
“I have never seen anything like that”, Johnson told BBC, for whom he works as an analyst. This young man has done something truly special. When he crossed the finish line, the clock read 43.03 seconds-a new world record.
He said: “Oh my God!”
“It was a insane race, a great moment in history. The world record was broken, the best man won”, Merritt said.
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This is an incredible accomplishment from Van Niekerk to come out and not only win against stark competition, but to do so in such emphatic fashion.
