Wayde van Niekerk wins South Africa’s first gold – shatters world record

South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk won South Africa’s first gold medal at  the Rio Olympics with a time of 43.03 in the 400m men’s final on Sunday night. Right from the start of the heats, it was clear that this was going to be one of the races of Olympics.

Van Niekerk had looked steady in his heats and never really looked like he even got out of first gear. On Sunday in the final, he came to the party.

It featured three of the world’s greatest 400m runners and it delivered. The talented 25-year old first came to prominence in 2011, winning the 200m title with a personal best of 20.57 seconds at the South African Athletics Championships. But the best was still to come. In 2014, he won silver at the Commonwealth Games. A year later, he became the first athlete ever to run 100 metres in under 10 seconds, 200 metres in under 20 seconds, and 400 metres in under 44 seconds.