South Africa’s 400m ace Wayde van Niekerk is hoping to shake off the disappointment of sneaking into the final of the event at the World Champs in Budapest by bagging a medal on Thursday.
Van Niekerk finished third in his semifinal, with only the top two guaranteed of a place in the final, on Tuesday night and squeezed into the final with a time of 44.65.
Lining up for a shot at gold on Thursday at 9.35pm, Van Niekerk is quoted by the Olympic Games website as saying: “I am disappointed. Let’s see what I will be able to do another day. I have time to recover, regroup and then I will come back to do my best in the final. Hopefully I will able to win a medal.”
🏟️🥇 Wayde Van Niekerk Secures His Spot in the 400m Final with a Remarkable Run! All Eyes on the Prize! 🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦![CDATA[]]>🔥 #FinalQualifier pic.twitter.com/aL1MOv6FGH
— Athletics_SA (@AthleticsSA_) August 23, 2023
In 200m action earlier in the night, Team SA have an ace in each of the three semifinals.
Starting at 8.20pm, Luxolo Adams, who qualified with a time of 20.15 seconds, will face off against holder and 100m champion Noah Lyles of the USA.
Next, Sinesipho Dambile goes up against Botswana yster Letsile Tebogo and USA star Kenny Bednarek, after posting at time of 20.34.
And Shawn Maswanganyi, with a time of 20.56, lines up alongside the likes of Andre de Grasse and Erriyon Knighton.