 van Niekerk at the2017 World Championships | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | South African |
| Born | (1992-07-15)15 July 1992 (age 33)[1] Kraaifontein,Cape Province, South Africa |
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] |
| Weight | 70 kg (154 lb)[1] |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Track and field |
Event | Sprints |
| Team | Adidas[2] |
| Coached by | Lance Brauman (2021–present)[3] Anna Botha (2012–2021)[4] |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Highest world ranking | 1st (400 m, 2023)[5] |
| Personalbests | |
Medal record | |
Wayde van Niekerk (South African English: /ˈweɪdfʌnniːˈkɛərk/,Afrikaans:[fanˈnikærk]; born 15 July 1992) is a South Africantrack and fieldsprinter who competes in the200 and400 metres. In the 400 metres, he is the currentworld and Olympic record holder, having set the record when he wonthe event at the 2016 Olympics.
Van Niekerk was the silver medallist in the 400 m at the2014 Commonwealth Games and took silver in the4 × 400 metres relay at the2013 Summer Universiade. He also represented South Africa at the2013 and2015Athletics World Championships. At the 2015 World Championships, he won the gold medal in the400 metres. He defended his title two years later, inLondon, where he also won the silver medal in the200 metres race.
In the2016 Olympic Gamesmen's 400 m, Van Niekerk won the gold medal with a world record time of 43.03 seconds, beating the time of 43.18 seconds set byMichael Johnson in 1999.[10]
In 2016, Van Niekerk became the first sprinter in history to have run the 100 metres in under 10 seconds,200 metres in under 20 seconds, and400 metres in under 44 seconds.[11] In 2017, after a 30.81 seconds victory in the seldom-run300 metres distance, breakingMichael Johnson's world-best time of 30.85 which was set in 2000, Van Niekerk became the only sprinter in history to have run sub-10, sub-20, sub-31 and sub-44 performances at 100 m,200 m, 300 m and400 m respectively.[12][13]
Van Niekerk was born inKraaifontein to Wayne van Niekerk and sprinter Odessa Swarts (née Krause).[14][15] He was born prematurely and needed a blood transfusion.[16] Van Niekerk attended Bellville Primary[17] and Simonberg Primary[18] until he and his mother moved toBloemfontein in 2005.[15] There he went toGrey College before going on to study marketing at theUniversity of the Free State.[19]
He made his international debut at the2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics, where he placed fourth in the 200 m with a personal best time of 21.02 seconds. He also ran in the4 × 100 metres relay heats with the national team, alongsideGideon Trotter.[20] His senior breakthrough came at the age of eighteen at the 2011South African Athletics Championships when he won the 200 m title in a new personal best time of 20.57 seconds.[21] He competed in the same event at the2011 African Junior Athletics Championships, but did not make the final. He ran sparingly in 2012 but began to show a talent for the400 metres, setting a best time of 46.43 seconds.[22]
The 2013 season marked Van Niekerk's emergence as a 400 m runner. He won the second national title of his career over that distance at the 2013 South African Championships, winning with a sub-46-second time.[23] He won theIAAF Meeting de Dakar before travelling to Europe and placing second to Olympic championKirani James at theGolden Spike Ostrava, improving his best time to 45.09 seconds in the process.[24] He entered the400 metres at the2013 Summer Universiade and narrowly missed out on the final as the fastest non-qualifier.[25] He managed to reach the podium and receive his first international medal in the4 × 400 metres relay as the South African men took the silver. His performances earned him a place inthe 400 m at the 2013 World Championships, where he did not progress past the heats.[20]
A national title win in April 2014 saw Van Niekerk top the world rankings with a best of 44.92 seconds—his first sub-45-second run. After a win at theFBK Games in the Netherlands, he ran at theNew York Diamond League race and placed second toLaShawn Merritt. His time of 44.38 seconds was a newSouth African record, betteringArnaud Malherbe andHendrick Mokganyetsi's shared record from March 1999 and September 2000, respectively.[26] A 200 m best of 20.19 seconds followed by a fourth-place finish at theAthletissima meet.[22] He entered both sprint events at the2014 Commonwealth Games and won his first individual senior medal over 400 m, placing behind Kirani James with a time of 44.68 seconds—his second-fastest run at that point. He reached the semi-final of the 200 m but did not repeat his success of the longer sprint.[27]
2015 was the start of Van Niekerk's status as a sprinting phenom. On July 4, 2015, Van Niekerk lowered his South African record to below 44 seconds with a 43.96 at theMeeting Areva and ranked himself in the all-time top 12 whilst beating Kirani James for the first time. Ten days later, on July 14, 2015, he won a 200 m race at the Luzern Spitzen Leichtathletik in 19.94 seconds, his first 200 m run under 20 seconds. This also made him the second man in history to have gone under 20 seconds for the 200 m and 44 seconds for the 400 m. A month later, Van Niekerk represented South Africa at the2015 World Championships in Athletics, focusing solely on the400 m. Winning his heat, Van Niekerk beatLaShawn Merritt, with the defending champion taking second. The results repeated in the final, as he won gold in 43.48 seconds, making him the fourth-fastest runner of all time, ahead ofMerritt who was running his personal best as the sixth-fastest in 43.65.[28] Kirani James finished third in 43.78 seconds, a season's best.
On 12 March 2016, Van Niekerk became the 107th athlete to break the10-second barrier in the 100 metres. That made him the first individual to break 10 seconds for100 metres, 20 seconds for200 metres, and 44 seconds for 400 metres.[29] Van Niekerk qualified for the2016 Summer Olympics and was the flag bearer forSouth Africa.[30]
Van Niekerk won the gold medal in the 400 metres at the2016 Summer Olympics with a world record[31] time of 43.03 seconds, breakingMichael Johnson's set at the1999 World Championships in Athletics. His reaction time was 0.181 s[32] and he was aged 24 years and 30 days. Van Niekerk became the only man to have won the Olympic or world 400 metres from lane eight: usually, runners in this lane are at a disadvantage due to the staggered start.[33] Van Niekerk's Olympic win set off a racial debate after a tweet storm whenColoured South Africans celebrated his win by creating a hashtag #ColouredExcellence. In November, he won theAssociation of National Olympic Committees Best Male Athlete of the Rio 2016 Olympics award.[34]
On 8 August 2017, Van Niekerk successfully defended his 400 metres world title at the2017 World Championships in Athletics in London with a time of 43.98 seconds. Two days later, he finished second in the 200 m in 20.11 seconds at the World Championships. He became the first South African athlete to land two individual sprint medals at a single meet.
On 7 October 2017, Van Niekerk participated in a celebritytag rugby match atNewlands Stadium in Cape Town beforea Rugby Championship test match.[35] While playing, he made an inverted cut and tore hisanterior cruciate ligament. He began treatment immediately after surgery, and due to this injury, he was unable to attend any meets during 2018.[36] Van Niekerk had been in intense rehabilitation throughout 2018, to prepare himself for the beginning of the 2019 season and2020 Tokyo Olympics.[37] On 31 May 2019, it was announced that he would run at theIAAF Diamond League event in London in July, his first major race since his comeback from injury.[38] He did not eventually compete in the 2019 World Championships and failed to reach the 400 m final in the 2020 Olympic Games but finished 5th in the 400 m final in the 2022 World Championships.
Van Niekerk was coached by Ans Botha, known to her athletes as Tannie Ans, Afrikaans for Aunty Ans, until 2021.[39][40] His manager is Peet van Zyl.[41] In 2021 he moved to the United States to train with the Pure Athletics training group in Florida, coached by Lance Brauman.[3][42]
In the run-up to the2024 Paris Olympics, Van Niekerk declined to compete in the 400 m race, instead focusing on the 200 m event. He finished last in the semifinals of that event in Paris.
Van Niekerk married Chesney Campbell on 29 October 2017. He is the cousin of South AfricanWorld Cup-winningrugby union andrugby sevens playerCheslin Kolbe.[43] He first started using his speed while playing rugby in junior school in Cape Town. He and his cousin, Kolbe, were on the same team. More than 12 years later, they were both in the South African Olympic Team in Rio, with Kolbe playing in the Sevens.[41]
Van Niekerk's biological parents are divorced, and he was living with his mother, Odessa Swarts and step-father Steven Swarts, in Bloemfontein as of 2016.[15] His sister,Kayla Swarts, is an international hockey player at theFIH Nations Cup[44][45] and atJunior Africa cup.[46][47][48]
He is a Christian, tweeting "Jesus Did It" and "GOD IS POWER" after setting the world record for the 400 metres.[49] He is also an avid supporter ofPremier League clubLiverpool F.C.[50]
Information fromWorld Athletics profile, unless otherwise noted.[51]
| Event | Time | Venue | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 m | 9.94 | Velenje, Slovenia | 20 June 2017 | |
| 200 m | 19.84 | Kingston, Jamaica | 10 June 2017 | FormerNR |
| 300 m | 30.81 | Ostrava, Czech Republic | 28 June 2017 | National Best |
| 400 m | 43.03 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 14 August 2016 | WR,OR |
| 4 × 100 m relay | 38.84 | Durban, South Africa | 24 June 2016 | |
| 4 × 400 m relay | 3:00.02 | Marrakesh, Morocco | 14 September 2014 |
Van Niekerk ran the opening 200 metres in 20.54 seconds and the closing 200 metres in 22.49 seconds, giving a differential of 1.95 seconds. The 100-metre-long-section beginning after the first 100 metres was completed in 9.78 seconds.[52]
The three highlighted times are track records. Van Niekerk also holds a fourth track record. He ran 43.73 seconds atMonaco in July 2017.
| Year | 200 metres | 400 metres |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 21.02 | — |
| 2011 | 20.57 | — |
| 2012 | 20.91 | 46.43 |
| 2013 | 20.84 | 45.09 |
| 2014 | 20.19 | 44.38 |
| 2015 | 19.94 | 43.48 (Beijing) |
| 2016 | 20.02 | 43.03 (Rio de Janeiro) |
| 2017 | 19.84 | 43.62 (Lausanne) |
| 2018 | — | — |
| 2019 | — | 47.28 |
| 2020 | 20.31 | 45.58 |
| 2021 | 20.38 | 44.56 |
| 2022 | — | 44.33 |
| 2023 | — | 44.08 <diamond league silesia> |
| 2024 | 20.29 | 44.74 |
| 2025 | 20.07 | 44.91 |
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| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Men's 400 metres world record holder 14 August 2016 – present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Men's 400 metres African record holder 26 August 2015 – present | Incumbent |
| Achievements | ||
| Preceded by | Men's 400 metres season's best 2015, 2016, 2017 | Succeeded by |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by | Men'sTrack & Field News Athlete of the Year 2016 | Succeeded by |
| Olympic Games | ||
| Preceded by | Flagbearer for South AfricaRio de Janeiro 2016 | Succeeded by |
|
African Champions in men's200 metres | |
|---|---|
|
