Van Niekerk to take baton from Bolt?
South African 400-metre record-holder seen as the next big star in track and field
As Usain Bolt races toward the end of a great career, Wayde van Niekerk is considered track and field’s next big star.
“That’s a massive, massive responsibility,” van Niekerk said Thursday.
Van Niekerk set a stunning 400-metre world record in 43.03 seconds while winning the Olympic title last year.
He spoke in Monaco ahead of the Herculis meeting Friday in the Diamond League series where he will be a main attraction with Bolt.
“I find it extremely difficult to even come close to what Usain has represented in his charismatic way,” van Niekerk said.
The soft-spoken South African has talked with Bolt “quite a few times” about revealing more of his character.
“Usain has set the bar quite high both with his personality and his performances,” van Niekerk said, adding he is “slowly but surely” coming out of his shell. “It’s tough for us to catch up when it comes to personality because (Bolt) naturally has it. At the end of the day, you really just need to be you. It is the performances that make me a great athlete.”
There was greatness on the Rio de Janeiro track last August when van Niekerk eclipsed Michael Johnson’s world mark of 43.18, which some thought was unbeatable.
Now the question is where and when the first sub-43 time will be run — possibly at the world championships in London in two weeks.
“I can definitely think of a 42,” van Niekerk said. “It’s bound to happen. I just need to have the right race and the right conditions and the right perfect moment.”
Van Niekerk seems in top shape. He ran a world-leading 43.62 this month at Lausanne, Switzerland, and eased up near the end.
He also took another Johnson mark when setting a world-best of 30.81 in the seldom-raced 300m last month in the Czech Republic. His best 200m time of 19.84, in Jamaica last month, is second in the world this year.
For good measure, van Niekerk also has a 9.94 in the 100m that is faster than any of Bolt’s competitive times this season.
“I doubt it is the end of where I can be,” van Niekerk said.