South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk sensationally won Olympic 400-meter gold at Rio 2016 – smashing Michael Johnson’s 17-year-old record along the way – and he has his “Super Gran” coach Anna Botha to thank.
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Van Niekerk, running in the unfavoured lane eight, blasted off the final corner to time 43.03sec, 0.15sec quicker than Johnson’s previous world best set in Seville in 1999, a record that had taken on mythical-like standing.
In an interview with Independent Media two days before the race, Van Niekerk was asked about whether he had Johnson’s 400m world record in his sights at the Rio Olympics, and his answer portrayed his sheer bloody-mindedness.
Merritt said that he knew the race would be fast but he didn’t realize it was going to be world-record fast.
Van Niekerk lives in South Africa’s Free State, according to his page at the International Association of Athletics Federations, and comes from a family of athletes.
“You have the ideal opportunity to go out as if you are in training and go as hard as you can”.
“I was so scared someone was going to catch me I just kept pushing and pushing, and at the end I just dove for the line”, Van Niekerk said.
It will surely be one of the biggest performances of this year’s Olympics by any athlete from any country.
“When he came to Jamaica, I said to him, ‘You’re the only person who can break the 400-meter record, ‘” Bolt recounted. “Also, I need to try to do my very best not to do something wrong that might break him”, she told the City Press.
Merritt, who was Olympic champion at the Beijing Games in 2008 before serving a 21-month ban for testing positive for a banned steroid in 2010, hailed Van Niekerk.
“I hate the 400m but look how far it’s brought me”, he said.
Van Niekerk said he had spent time with seven-time Olympic gold-medallist Bolt in Jamaica earlier this year.
None of van Niekerk’s rivals could stay within striking distance of him on a night when he became track and field’s undisputed one-lap king. He said he dreamed of Olympic gold medal and believed in it. In addition to a sub-44 second 400, he has run a sub-20 second 200 and sub-10 second 100.
“This is the flawless opportunity to thank each and every one who has supported me and has been a part of this journey and to thank everyone in SA”.
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It didn’t happen. The South African in fact went faster in the second half of the race, slingshotting into the home straight in a blur of limbs.
