He is the world champion in the 400 m, the South African Sports Star for 2015, and now Kovsie student Wayde van Niekerk has achieved something nobody else has done before.
On 12 March 2016, Van Niekerk became the first athlete in history to run the 100 m under 10 seconds, the 200 m under 20 seconds, and the 400 m under 44 seconds. Van Niekerk achieved this feat, which was confirmed by the IAAF, when he ran a personal best in the 100 m at the Free State Championships in his hometown of Bloemfontein.
His time of 9.98 seconds in the 100 m improved his previous best by 0.47 seconds. Van Niekerk ran his previous best back in 2011 and didn’t compete much in this event during the last couple of years.
“We, as the UFS leadership, are enormously proud of this historic achievement of Wayde, who embodies our values of academic commitment and human decency in every way,” said Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State (UFS).
He was congratulated by many people on social media over the weekend. AB de Villiers, the Proteas' test and one-day cricket captain, was one of a few well-known people who congratulated Van Niekerk on Twitter.
“@WaydeDreamer don’t know the man, but WOW. Take a bow,” De Villiers tweeted.
A humble Van Niekerk thanked De Villiers and wished him good luck for the upcoming T20 World Cup in India.
The 23-year old Van Niekerk said on his Instagram account that it was a childhood dream to run a sub 10, and expressed his thanks to his supporters.
On 11 March 2016, Van Niekerk won the 200 m at the Free State Championships in 20.97 seconds. His best in this event is 19.94 seconds.
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UFS congratulates Wayde van Niekerk and other students for their national and international
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