Wayde van Niekerk wysed wie’s baas as he raced to the 400m gold at the SA Championships in Potchefstroom on Saturday.
The 2016 Olympic champion and world record-holder won in a world-leading 44.17 seconds, which was vinniger than his fastest time last year (44.33), and better than his 44.95 in the semifinals at the NWU McArthur Stadium.
It was also a top effort behind him for world junior champ Lythe Pillay, as he set another new personal best of 44.80, a world championship qualifying time as well.
4⃣4⃣.1⃣7⃣
— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) April 1, 2023
Wow. @WaydeDreamer produces a stunning run to win the 400m at the South African Championships 🔥![CDATA[]]>🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦
✅ Fastest he has gone since 2017
✅ Best run since his last world title (London 2017)
✅ The ninth quickest time in his career pic.twitter.com/2bWSV9gJNn
In a SuperSport interview, Wayde says: “It was a great run, a great competition. I must say thank you to the crowd; they cheered us on, and it became really motivating.
“We are so focused on the race ahead, but it played a big role in crossing the finish line.”
In other kwaai performances, Leandri Geel pulled out a 65.18m effort to set a new SA record in the women’s hammer throw.
Zeney van der Walt powered to a worlds-qualifying time of 54.82 to clinch the 400m hurdles, while Sokwakhana Zazini took the men’s gold in 48.95.
Miranda Coetzee did the 200m-400m double within 90 minutes of each other and Cheswill Johnson won the men’s long jump with a leap of 7.95m.
And in the 1 500m final, 800m star Tshepo Tshite broke the tape in 3:38.63.
In the men’s hammer, Tshepang Makhethe was triumphant with 69.42m.
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