Wayde van Niekerk qualified for his first major final in five years as he finished second in his 400m semifinal heat at the world championships in Eugene, Oregon, on Wednesday (Thursday morning SA time).
Then came Allison and Kirani James of Grenada, the 2012 Olympic and 2011 world champion, who won the second semifinal in 44.74, followed by Van Niekerk, the 2016 Olympic champion and the world title-holder in 2015 and 2017.
Van Niekerk injured his right knee later in 2017 and is still trying to recapture the form that saw him set the 43.03 world record six years ago. The fastest time of his comeback was a 44.56 last year, while this year he registered a 44.58 two weeks before the championships, his first full race of the season after pulling up in a 200m race in Italy in May.That’s the first time three South Africans have made the finals of the three sprint races at a major competition, and it could bode well for the 4x100m relay.
In other action, Zeney. van der Walt ran a 54.81 personal best in her 400m hurdles semifinal, but that was still more than a second off what was needed to make the final.Van der Walt, the world under-20 champion in 2018, ended fourth in her heat, won by defending champion Dalilah Muhammad of the US in a 53.28 season’s best.Holland’s Femke Bol, who spends time training in Potchefstroom, won the second semifinal in 52.84 while American Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin took the third race in 52.
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Sport: Confident Wayde van Niekerk makes World Champs 400m finalFive years of injury and setbacks have plagued his career since the 2017 triumph in London, which included elimination at the semi-final stage at Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021). But the world record holder has just qualified for Friday’s 400m World Championship final in Eugene, Oregon.
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Wayde van Niekerk fights hard to book first final spot in five yearsWayde van Niekerk qualified for his first major final in five years as he finished second in his 400m semifinal heat at the world championships in Eugene, Oregon, on Wednesday (Thursday morning SA time).
Read more »
Wayde van Niekerk fights hard to book first final spot in five yearsWayde van Niekerk qualified for his first major final in five years as he finished second in his 400m semifinal heat at the world championships in Eugene, Oregon, on Wednesday (Thursday morning SA time).
Read more »
Wayde van Niekerk fights hard to book first final spot in five yearsWayde van Niekerk qualified for his first major final in five years as he finished second in his 400m semifinal heat at the world championships in Eugene, Oregon, on Wednesday (Thursday morning SA time).
Read more »
Wayde stays in the hunt, coasting into World Champs final | The CitizenThe former world champion took second place in his semifinal in 44.75.
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