Wayde van Niekerk (

South African English South African English (SAfrE, SAfrEng, SAE, en-ZA) is the set of English language dialects native to South Africans. History British settlers first arrived in the South African region in 1795, when they established a military holding op ...

: , ; born 15 July 1992) is a South African

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

sprinter who competes in the

200 __NOTOC__ Year 200 ( CC) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 953 '' Ab ur ...

and

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

. In the 400 metres, he is the current

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

and Olympic record holder, having set the record in the Olympic finals. He also holds the world-best time in the

300 metres The 300 metres is an uncommon sprinting event in track and field competitions. All-time top 25 *+ = en route to 400 m performance *i = indoor performance *A = affected by altitude *OT = oversized track (> 200 m in circumference) *h = hand timi ...

. Van Niekerk was the silver medallist in the 400m at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

and took silver in the

4×400 metres relay Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

at the

2013 Summer Universiade The 2013 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXVII Summer Universiade (russian: XXVII Летняя Универсиада), was held in the city of Kazan, Russia, the most northerly city ever to host a Summer Universiade. Over 10,400 un ...

. He also represented South Africa at the

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

and

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Athletics World Championships. At the 2015 World Championships, he won the gold medal in the

. He defended his title two years later, in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where he also won the silver medal in the 200 metres race. In the

2016 Olympic Games ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

men's 400m, Van Niekerk won the gold medal with a world record time of 43.03 seconds (reaction time 0.181 s) at age 24 years and 30 days, beating the time of 43.18 seconds set by Michael Johnson during the

1999 World Championships in Athletics The 7th World Championships in Athletics, a World Athletic Championships event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and Augu ...

Seville, Spain Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

. In 2016, Van Niekerk became the first sprinter in history to have run the 100 metres in under 10 seconds,

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

in under 20 seconds, and

in under 44 seconds. In 2017, after a 30.81 seconds victory in the seldom-run 300 metres distance, breaking Michael 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 100m,

200m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a Sprint (running), sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run th ...

, 300m and 400m respectively.

Early life

Van Niekerk was born in

Kraaifontein Kraaifontein is a town in the Western Cape, Western Cape province of South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality as a Northern Suburbs, Cape Town, Northern Suburb. The name o ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, to Wayne van Niekerk and sprinter Odessa Swarts.Wayde's Olympic glory: what his parents have to say
, ''

IOL Cherchell (Arabic: شرشال) is a town on Algeria's Mediterranean coast, west of Algiers. It is the seat of Cherchell District in Tipaza Province. Under the names Iol and Caesarea, it was formerly a Roman colony and the capital of the kin ...

'' He was born prematurely and needed a blood transfusion. Van Niekerk attended Bellville Primary and Simonberg Primary until he and his mother moved to

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...

in 2005. There he went to Grey College before going on to study marketing at the

University of the Free State The University of the Free State is a multi-campus public university in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State (province), Free State and the judicial capital of South Africa. It was first established as an institution of higher learning in ...

Career

He made his international debut at the

2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition for athletes under the age of 20 which was held at the Moncton Stadium in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada from 19 to 25 July 2010. A total of 44 athletics ...

, where he placed fourth in the 200m with a personal best time of 21.02 seconds. He also ran in the 4×100 metres relay heats with the national team, alongside

Gideon Trotter Gideon Trotter (born 3 March 1992) is a South African sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres. Trotter won a gold medal in the 100 metres at the 2011 African Junior Athletics Championships in Gaborone, Botswana. Personal best References ...

.Wayde van Niekerk
. IAAF. Retrieved 31 July 2014. His senior breakthrough came at the age of eighteen at the 2011

South African Athletics Championships The South African Athletics Championships is an annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Athletics South Africa, which serves as the national championship for the sport in South Africa.2011 African Junior Athletics Championships The 2011 African Junior Athletics Championships were held at the University of Botswana Stadium in Gaborone, Botswana from 12 to 15 May. It was the tenth edition of the continental athletics tournament for African athletes aged 19 years or younger ...

, but did not make the final. He ran sparingly in 2012, but began to show a talent for the

, setting a best time of 46.43 seconds.Wayde van Niekerk
. Tilastopaja. Retrieved 31 July 2014. The 2013 season marked Van Niekerk's emergence as a 400m 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. He won the IAAF Meeting de Dakar before travelling to Europe and placing second to Olympic champion

Kirani James Kirani James (born 1 September 1992) is a Grenadian professional sprinter who specializes in the 200 and 400 metres. He won the 400 m at the World Championships in 2011 and the 2012 London Olympics. In the 400 metres James also won the sil ...

at the

Golden Spike Ostrava Golden Spike ( cz, Zlatá tretra) is an annual athletics event at the Městský Stadion in Ostrava- Vítkovice, Czech Republic as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1961. The history of the meeting was interru ...

, improving his best time to 45.09 seconds in the process. He entered the

at the

and narrowly missed out on the final as the fastest non-qualifier. He managed to reach the podium and receive his first international medal in the

as the South African men took the silver. His performances earned him a place in the 400m at the 2013 World Championships, where he did not progress past the heats. 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 the

FBK Games The FBK Games is an annual track and field event at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Stadion in Hengelo, Netherlands as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1981. Its name honours Fanny Blankers-Koen, who won four gold med ...

in the Netherlands, he ran at the

New York Diamond League The USATF New York Grand Prix is an annual athletics meeting held at Icahn Stadium in New York City, United States. The event was part of the IAAF Grand Prix from 2007 to 2009. For 2010 it was promoted to the top-level Diamond League through 2 ...

race and placed second to

LaShawn Merritt LaShawn Merritt (born June 27, 1986) is an American track and field athlete who competes in sprinting events, specializing in the 400 metres. He is a former Olympic champion over the distance and his personal best of 43.65 seconds makes him th ...

, and his time of 44.38 seconds was a new South African record, bettering

Arnaud Malherbe Arnaud Malherbe (born 20 November 1972) is a South African sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. His personal best time is 44.59 seconds, achieved in March 1999 in Roodepoort. At the time, it was a South African Record. He has the ...

and

Hendrick Mokganyetsi Hendrick Mokganyetsi (born 7 September 1975 in Pretoria) is a South African sprinter who specializes in the 400 meters. His personal best time is 44.59 seconds, achieved in September 2000 in Yokohama. He also has a strong personal best in the 8 ...

's shared record from March 1999 and September 2000, respectively. A 200m best of 20.19 seconds followed to a fourth-place finish at the Athletissima meet. He entered both sprint events at the

and won his first individual senior medal over 400m, 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 200m, but did not repeat his success of the longer sprint.Wayde Van Niekerk
. Glasgow2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014. 2015 proved to be 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 the

Meeting Areva Meeting de Paris (formerly known as the Meeting Areva and Meeting Gaz de France) is an annual track and field meeting at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris, France. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamon ...

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 200m race at the Luzern Spitzen Leichtathletik in 19.94 seconds, his first 200m run under 20 seconds. This also made him the second man in history to have gone under 20 seconds for the 200m, and 44 seconds for the 400m. A month later, Van Niekerk represented South Africa at the

2015 World Championships in Athletics The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...

, focusing solely on the 400m. Winning his heat, Van Niekerk managed to beat

, 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 of Merritt who was running his personal best as the sixth-fastest in 43.65. Kirani James finished third in 43.78 seconds, a season's best. On 12 March 2016, Van Niekerk became the 107th athlete to break the

10-second barrier The 10-second barrier is the physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the hallmark of a world-class male sprinter. Its significance has become less i ...

in the 100 metres. That made him the first individual to break 10 seconds for

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

, 20 seconds for

, and 44 seconds for 400 metres. Van Niekerk qualified for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

and was the flag bearer for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Van Niekerk won the gold medal in the 400 metres at the

with a world record time of 43.03 seconds, breaking Michael Johnson's record time from 1999. 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. Van Niekerk's Olympic win set off a racial debate after a tweet storm when

Coloured Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

South Africans celebrated his win by creating a hashtag #ColouredExcellence. In November, he won the

Association of National Olympic Committees The Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) is an international organization that affiliates the current 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Each year it gathers all its membe ...

Best Male Athlete of the Rio 2016 Olympics award. On 8 August 2017, Van Niekerk successfully defended his 400 metres world title at the

2017 World Championships in Athletics Seventeen or 17 may refer to: * 17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japane ...

in London with a time of 43.98 seconds. Two days later he finished second in the 200m in a time of 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 31 October 2017, Van Niekerk participated in a celebrity-funded rugby match that was sponsored by FC soccer. During this match, he made an inverted cut and tore his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

(ACL). He began treatment immediately after surgery and due to this injury, he was unable to attend any meets during 2018. Van Niekerk had been in intense rehabilitation throughout 2018, to prepare himself for the beginning of the 2019 season and

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. On 31 May 2019, it was announced that he would run at the

IAAF Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

event in London in July, his first major race since his comeback from injury. Van Niekerk was coached by Ans Botha, who is known to her athletes as Tannie Ans, Afrikaans for Aunty Ans, until 2021. His manager is Peet van Zyl. In 2021 he moved to the United States to train with the Pure Athletics training group in Florida, coached by Lance Brauman.

Personal life

Van Niekerk married Chesney Campbell on 29 October 2017. He is the cousin of South African World Cup-winning

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

and rugby sevens player

Cheslin Kolbe Cheslin Kolbe (born 28 October 1993) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the South Africa national team and for in the Top 14 in France. His regular position is Wing (rugby union), wing, but he also plays ...

. 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. 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. Van Niekerk supports

Liverpool Football Club Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has ...

. He is a Christian, tweeting "Jesus Did It" and "GOD IS POWER" after setting the world record for the 400 metres.

Statistics

Information from

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

profile, unless otherwise noted.

Personal bests

400 metres world record split times

Van Niekerk ran the opening 200 metres in 20.5 seconds and the closing 200 metres in 22.5 seconds, giving a differential of 2.0 seconds. The 100-metre-long-section beginning after the first 100 metres was completed in 9.8 seconds.

International championship results

Circuit wins

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

(400 m; Other events specified in parenthesis) **

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

(300 m) **

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

: 2015 **

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

: 2015 **

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

: 2016,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

: 2017

Seasonal bests

National titles

* South African Championships **200 metres: 2011, 2017, 2021 **400 metres: 2013, 2014,

, 2016 *South African Junior Championships **100 metres: 2011 **200 metres: 2011

Notes

References

External links

* * *
Wayde van Niekerk setting the men's 400 metres world and Olympic record
via the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

Wayde van Niekerk setting the men's 400 metres world and Olympic record
via the

Olympic Channel Olympic Channel is an over-the-top Internet television service operated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was launched on August 21, 2016, alongside the closing of the 2016 Summer Olympics. The service aims to maintain year-round ...

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:van Niekerk, Wayde Living people 1992 births Cape Coloureds Sportspeople from Cape Town South African male sprinters Commonwealth Games silver medallists for South Africa Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for South Africa World Athletics Championships medalists Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of South Africa Olympic gold medalists for South Africa Alumni of Grey College, Bloemfontein University of the Free State alumni Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics World Athletics record holders Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) South African Christians Olympic male sprinters Track & Field News Athlete of the Year winners Universiade silver medalists for South Africa World Athletics Championships winners IAAF Continental Cup winners South African Athletics Championships winners Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics