Wayde van Niekerk is South Africa’s greatest-ever sprinter, and the best 400m athlete of all time without question. For mere mortals, that’s plenty. But not for Van Niekerk.
At the age of 24 in 2016 with a world record, an Olympic gold and a World Championship title to his name, the potential for Van Niekerk seemed endless.
But just over a year later, his career lay in tatters. A celebrity touch rugby match in October 2017 which Van Niekerk decided to take part in, where he picked up a serious long-term knee injury, ruined what could have been a far greater career.
Of course, there’s no telling how much, if at all, faster Van Niekerk could have run but all the signs pointed to him going quicker than the 43.03 seconds world record he set in the men’s 400m final of the Rio Olympics eight years ago.
From Lane EIGHT Wayde van Niekerk 🇿🇦 set a new men’s 400m world record in the 2016 Olympics
— RoriDunk (@FitzDunk) July 12, 2024
43.03! 🤯
Although he won't be competing in the 400m at this Olympics he's given us a performance that'll last a lifetime 👏
pic.twitter.com/NOYgJWLRQO
That magical night
His world mark, in fact, came from lane eight - which is the least favourable for a 400m race as you can’t see your opposition properly from that position.
Just before his ill-fated touch rugby match, in August 2017, Van Niekerk showed glimpses of what might come. He defended his World Championship title in London in the men’s 400m before taking silver in the 200m two days later.
It prompted the best sprinter of all time, Usain Bolt to say about Van Niekerk: “He will take over, without a doubt.” Bolt had just retired, and fully believed that Van Niekerk would take over as the proud flag bearer of world athletics. We all did.
Flash forward to now, Van Niekerk has just turned 32 and has not picked up a major medal since the London World Championships seven years ago.
It’s sad to say, but even as a world record holder, Van Niekerk’s athletics career is one that could have been so much greater.
Van Niekerk himself knows that, and prefers not to talk about that touch rugby match whenever the topic comes up. In fact, a hint of anger even surfaces if it’s brought up.
You can’t really blame him for that, and though he won’t admit it, it’s a moment that will haunt him for the rest of his life.
That said, there’s one small matter remaining for Van Niekerk. And that’s the Paris Olympics. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly depending on how you look at it, he withdrew from the men’s 400m and instead will compete in the 200m.
This season, Van Niekerk has a best time of 20.29 in the 200m, while his personal best remains the 19.84 he ran in 2017 before his injury.
For comparison, at the Tokyo Olympics Noah Lyles earned bronze in the men’s 200m in a time of 19.74.
It means, Van Niekerk would likely have to run a personal best just to earn the bottom podium position - a far cry from the top spot he stood on in 2016 with a world record under his belt for good measure.
However, if Van Niekerk is unable to pull off an unlikely medal in the 200m he still has the relays on the horizon. He will hope to feature prominently in either the 4x100m or 4x400m, or both if he is to pick up another Olympic medal.
Given his age and previous injuries, it’s Van Niekerk’s last chance to rekindle a glimpse of the magic he showed half a decade ago.