With the Olympic Games in Paris creeping ever closer, Wayde van Niekerk showed during the Diamond League meeting in Poland that he is undoubtedly still a 400m force to be reckoned with.
The 31-year-old South African world record holder blitzed his favorite event in a time of 44.08 seconds. This is a brand new event record and his fastest time in years.
Van Niekerk was initially engaged in a tough battle with Alison dos Santos, but the Brazilian hurdles specialist gradually lost steam while the South African picked up speed.
He ended up winning easily and his performance undoubtedly brought many a smile.
Wayde van Niekerk at his brilliant best!
The South African produced a Meeting Record time of 44.08 in the Men’s 400m ???? pic.twitter.com/CYA4eRlTga
— SuperSport ???? (@SuperSportTV) July 16, 2023
“Things are progressing in the right direction and I’m happy with my consistency – especially on the training track. It was my fastest run of the past seven years and this time shows that 43 seconds is possible,” Van Niekerk said.
A few months ago, at the national athletics championship in Potchefstroom, he already started to flex his muscles with his winning time of 44.17 seconds.
“My body feels strong and I’m handling things well. Hopefully everything will come together nicely later this year at the World Championship (August 19 to 27 in Hungary),” he said at the time.
Then Akani Simbine also raised his voice at the same event in Poland.
The local blitz won the 100 m with his time of 9.97 seconds after officials had to zoom in on a photo to determine the eventual winner.
Simbine undoubtedly struck a blow when he beat the defending world champion, Fred Kerley.
The American was second with a time of 9.98 seconds.
The first man to beat Fred Kerley in 2023 – Akani Simbine! ????
He produced a sub 10 seconds time with 9.97 in a photo finish in the Men’s 100m at the #DiamondLeague pic.twitter.com/cTgYBppQrA
— SuperSport ???? (@SuperSportTV) July 16, 2023
