“It was a massacre”, said Johnson, who won two Olympic 400m titles.
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Van Niekerk is not the only member of his family to be leaving Rio de Janeiro with an Olympic medal.
“I thought I was going well on the back straight and then I got to 250m and it was going up another gear”.
When Usain Bolt finally packs it in, track and field may just have found its next global star. When he came to Jamaica, I said to him “listen, I’m talking to my coach, you’re probably the only person who can break the world record because you’ve got the speed and you’ve got the strength”.
“I believed in myself as an athlete and my abilities, but tonight God showed how important he’s been in my life”, he said. “I didn’t go so fast, but I’m so happy I won”. I thank Michael Johnson for setting such a great example for us.
“This year I was hoping I would be in good shape when my coach told me they were going to put on a 300m [at a grand prix meeting]”.
His incredible time prompted questions from a reporter, who asked for van Niekerk’s opinion on those who may question whether he had been taking performance enhancing drugs to record such an emphatic victory.
Sunday’s final always promised to be a thrilling race as Van Niekerk, LaShawn Merritt and Kirani James vied for glory, just as they did in last year’s captivating world championship final. The South African’s 43.04 bested a 17-year-old record set by Michael Johnson in Seville in 1999.
And he did so despite running in Lane 8, becoming the first Olympian to win gold in that lane in the 400.
“It is unbelievable. That was a massacre by Van Niekerk”.
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But Van Niekerk took it all in afterwards, hardly celebrating initially as the shock of winning gold and breaking the world record in one race hit home. “Hopefully I can inspire other South Africans and athletes around the world to go out and do their thing”. “When you keep going like that obviously a world record is going to fall”. “There is no way I am going to limit myself”. “We have put this sport on a pedestal”. Team GB’s Matthew Hudson-Smith, finished eighth in a time of 44.61 seconds.
