Wayde van Niekerk made sprint history by becoming the first athlete to dip under benchmark times in the 100m, 200m and 400m, but the South African says his focus this season is wholly on the one-lap race.
Having already clocked 19.94 seconds and 43.48 seconds in the 200m and 400m, Van Niekerk timed 9.98 seconds in the 100m in March to set an athletics first.
“That’s crazy, great things could be ahead,” US track great and 400m world record holder Michael Johnson said after Van Niekerk’s feat.
Photo: EPA
Reputed athletics statistician Jon Mulkeen, using International Association of Athletics Federations scoring tables, ranked Van Niekerk as fifth after a survey of top sprinters over the three distances.
Usain Bolt sits in first position, his world records in the 100m and 200m making up for a modest personal best of 45.28 seconds in the 400m.
Johnson is ranked second, ahead of American Tyson Gay and Jamaican Yohan Blake, followed by Van Niekerk.
The Cape Town-born track star is relatively little-known on a global level, despite scorching to world gold in the 400m in Beijing last year.
However, that promises to change, with news that the 23-year-old has inked in a training program later this month with Usain Bolt’s coach Glen Mills in Jamaica ahead of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“We have some good relationship with coach Mills, I’ve got to know him on the circuit over the last few months and years,” Van Niekerk said. “I’m really excited to learn and pick up some good tips for myself as an athlete and hopefully it’ll benefit me in the future.”
“I’ve tried to improve my 100m times and from there it’s all about building some good momentum. I’m doing some agility work and now practicing the 400m,” he said.
“It’s time to get kicked off in the European season and soak it up and build up some good momentum until we get to the Olympics,” he said.
However, the South African was in no doubt about where his goal lay this season.
“I’m really a big lover of the 100m and 200m, but I fell in love with the 400m and that’s why I do what I do today,” he said.
“I’ve been going through a four-year process with the 400m. I’ve been struggling with a lot of injuries with the 100m and 200m, so they’ve been neglected a bit more than the 400m,” Niekerk said, adding: “At this very moment, I’m totally focused on the 400m and doing a bit of 200m during the European season. Maybe in the future I’ll start considering the 100m and 200m, but for now I’m completely focused on the 400m.”
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