Wayde van Niekerk faded into last place in the third men’s 200m semi-final as his bid for an individual medal at Paris 2024 ended with a whimper on Wednesday (7 August).
The result meant South Africa’s 400m world record-holder has not reached the finals at the Olympics since his earth-shattering run in Rio 2016 where he won the one-lap crown.
In Tokyo 2020, Van Niekerk missed out on the final in the 400m, ultimately conceding his title from five years earlier. Van Niekerk has been battling to recover the form that saw him win back-to-back 400m world titles and the Olympic gold following a serious knee injury in 2017.
“I’m not happy with where I’m at the moment. I’m putting in the work every day. It was impossible when I got there, (and) it feels impossible right now,” Van Niekerk said after the race. But I’m never closing my mind towards the future. I’m a man of faith. I’m always optimistic that better opportunities will come ahead of me. But obviously, it takes time.”
The former world 200m silver medallist gave a wry smile and a salute to the camera when he was introduced before the race. Van Niekerk, who needed to finish second for an automatic qualification into the final, was never in the race coming out of the bend. US star Erriyon Knighton cruised to victory in 20.09 seconds with Joseph Fahnbulleh of Liberia finishing second in 20.12s.
Van Niekerk stopped the clock on 20.72s, some way off the personal best of 19.84s he set in 2017. The 32-year-old still has a chance at getting his hands on some silverware in Paris as a member of South Africa’s men’s 4x400m relay team.“I think there is a chance for a medal. With or without me, this is a strong group of guys. Obviously I’d love to be a part of it. I want to be there,” Van Niekerk said.
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