Wayde van Niekerk out of 400m at Paris 2024
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Wayde van Niekerk (Final Men Senior 200m) during the 2024 ASA Senior Track and Field Championships at the Msundunzi Athletics Stadium, Pietermaritzburg on the 20 April 2024 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix
South African athletics icon Wayde van Niekerk has reportedly withdrawn from the 400m event at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and will instead focus on the 200m.
According to reports, as a result of his withdrawal from the 400m, Van Niekerk will no longer be able to compete in the 4x400m relay.
The 4x400m team finished second at the World Athletics Relays in May, and was seen as having a chance of picking up a medal in Paris. But without the 31-year-old Van Niekerk, they are expected to sukkel.
Van Niekerk famously claimed the 400m gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro games, where he broke Michael Johnson’s 20-year-old world record, setting his time of 43.03.