Wayde Van Niekerk
From one South African to another, this time Wayde Van Niekerk who returned with a bang and sounded warning bells to his rivals; in case anyone was ruling him out of contention in men’s 400m in Eugene.
The former Olympic and world champion has been blighted with injuries, limiting him from being at his optimal best, and it was an unusual sight when he couldn’t advance beyond the semifinals in Tokyo last season, finishing 5th in 45.14s. It was not the sort of defense he would have wanted to his magnificent World Record of 43.03s from Rio.
Injuries pegged him back a great deal that he had to miss two seasons of not racing at all, and if you bring the Covid year into the equation, he competed a total of six times in three years. This was someone who raced 28 times across three disciplines in one season en route winning the double at the 2017 World Championships in London.
(Photo Credit: Making of Champions/PaV Media)
He has changed his coach since then and tweaked things, making a gradual comeback to try and challenge the favourites in his absence. He had a bit of a worry on his comeback in May this season, when he did not finish his 200m race at the Triveneto Meet in Italy.
However he seems to be back to full fitness, coasting to an easy win of 44.58s in Atlanta. Van Niekerk was almost a second faster than the Jamaican duo of Rusheen McDonald and Demish Gaye who finished 2nd and 3rd in 45.43s and 45.47s respectively.
This was Van Niekerk’s first 400m race in 11 months, and it was some opener to his season. South Africa listed him alongside Zakhiti Nene for the men’s 400m in Oregon, and he is certainly one athlete to be wary of if he is in good form.
USA’s Michael Norman is the fastest entrant and favourite to win the 400m with the imperious 43.54s he put down this season, but he isn’t oblivious of the threat a fully fit Van Niekerk poses to his quest for a first global title. For Norman, he is the home favourite and could be under some pressure to perform in front of the home crowd, but Van Niekerk wouldn’t have that hassle. He is not defending a title, rather would be gauging himself to see where he is at.
Defending champion Steve Gardiner, announced that he won’t be defending his 400m title after suffering a UTE tendon inflammation which ruled him out of the contest, so it would be one less major contender to worry about. While there are a couple of collegiate athletes like Randolph Ross and Champion Allison looking to make a statement, it’s left to be seen how fresh they would be as a result of a hectic NCAA schedule.
For Van Niekerk: he is fresher, healthy, and very unpredictable. His other competitors can’t really predict what shape he is in, and won’t see him coming, or maybe can’t catch him if he should lead the pack in the final like he did five years ago.
