3. WAYDE VAN NIEKERK
In 2015 the world saw the best of South Africa’s Wayde Van Niekerk who had an almost impeccable outing this year and proved a worthy ambassador for Africa. He started out at the Birmingham DL where he competed in a non-DL event, the 300m which he won with a WL and African Record of 31.63s. He then ran the 400m in New York where he set a National Record (NR) of 44.24s, beating the more experienced pair of Chris Brown and Tony McQuay.
This prepared him for the bigger stage in Paris where he went against then World Leader and Olympic champion, Kirani James who had just gone under 44s (43.95s) at the Eugene DL. However, the South African proved too strong for the former world champion, racing to an African Record of 43.96s, becoming the first African to run under 44s.
This record was short-lived as Botswana’s Isaac Makwala erased it the following day with a superior mark of 43.72s. Going by his form in the DL, it was clear that the 2014 Commonwealth Games Silver medallist had indeed become a major contender for the world title despite not matching the superior credentials of some of his opponents including James and former Olympic and world champion, LaShawn Merritt .
The 23-year old easily dominated his races in the heats and semis with 44.42s and 44.31s respectively. The final was bound to be explosive, but not even Van Niekerk would have believed that the race would be such a historic one. He took off at the sound of the gun, maintaining his pace in Lane 6, with James keeping him on his toes in Lane 5.
Approaching the home straight, Van Niekerk took off like a man possessed, sailing past the rest of the field and ended with a scorching PB, WL and African Record of 43.48s. So crazy was the race that Merritt was inspired to run a lifetime’s best of 43.65s, while James could only win Bronze with an SB of 43.78s. Van Niekerk became Africa’s first World Championships GOLD medallist in the men’s 400m and is now the 4th fastest man EVER in the event. What a victory for the continent!
