Wayde van Niekerk up for top award
JOHANNESBURG: Sprinting sensation Wayde van Niekerk could earn another major feather in his cap after he was shortlisted for the Laureus Sport Breakthrough of the Year Award yesterday.
The 400m world-record holder is flying high after his gold-medal run at the Rio Olympic Games earning plaudits from across the globe.
Van Niekerk could add another international gong to his growing list of accolades after he was named Best Male Athlete of the 2016 Rio Games by the Association of International Olympic Committees (Anoc).
Van Niekerk was named among six shortlisted athletes from different sporting codes in the Breakthrough of the Year category.
The South African will go up against Formula One world champion Nico Rosberg, Ethiopian world-record breaker Almaz Ayana, and three teams. The teams are Premier League champions Leicester City, European Championship quarter-finalists Iceland and Olympic Rugby Sevens gold medallists Fiji.
Six South Africans have won awards in various categories including the victorious Springboks from the 2007 Rugby World Cup for team of the year, and Oscar Pistorius, Natalie du Toit and Ernst van Dyk for Sportsperson with a Disability of the Year.
Adventurer Mike Horn and Schalk Burger earned gongs for Action Sportsperson of the Year and Comeback of the Year respectively.
Van Niekerk broke the 400m world record to win gold in his maiden appearance at the Rio Olympic Games smashing Michael Johnson’s previous mark with a time of 43.03 seconds.
He also became the first man ever to have posted a sub-10 time in the 100m, sub-20 in the 200m, and sub-44 in the one-lap sprint.
Nominations for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award include Bolt, 5 000m and 10 000m Olympic champion Mo Farah, and Portuguese football player Christiano Ronaldo.
The women’s category includes Americans Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky and Allyson Felix, German tennis ace Angelique Kerber, and Jamaican sprint sensation Elaine Thompson.
Winners will be announced in Monaco on February 14.