Wayde looks in fine nick
NOT even the best sprinters in the US and Jamaica could topple Wayde van Niekerk from his perch atop the 200m world rankings at the weekend.
With Usain Bolt abdicating his 200m crown ahead of the world championships in London in August‚ Van Niekerk remains in pole position to lift that mantle with the 19.84sec mark he posted earlier this month.
Yohan Blake won the Jamaican title in 19.97sec while American Ameer Webb was victorious in 20.09sec‚ an effort worthy of a sub-20 considering the 2.3-metre-per-second wind against him.
“One would have expected some faster times than we saw in both the US and Jamaican trials‚” said former 400m runner Arnaud Malherbe‚ a relay bronze medallist from the 1999 world championships.
“There are so far only six men who have run under 20sec this year‚ with two of them being South African – Wayde van Niekerk and Akani Simbine.
“With Noah Lyles and LaShawn Merritt not qualifying for London‚ it seems Wayde’s chances of obtaining a double have improved somewhat.”
Mathew Quinn‚ a past 100m sprinter and a relay gold medallist from the 2001 world championships‚ believes the stars are aligning for Van Niekerk‚ the Olympic 400m champion‚ to score a rare sprint double in London.
Van Niekerk’s closest 200m rival on the rankings‚ American student Christian Coleman‚ was beaten into second place in both the 200m and the 100m at the US champs.
“I think his tank empty‚” said Quinn.
“He’s been running best times since March. We don’t see collegiate athletes feature at world championships. Maybe in the next year or two‚ but not in the same year.”
By the same token‚ Fred Kerley‚ the new US 400m champion and owner of the 43.70 world lead from May‚ would not be a contender in the one-lapper either.
Van Niekerk competes in his first international 400m only is totally next week‚ and all eyes will be on his performance in the 300m in Ostrava tomorrow.
“Wayde’s got a hunger for the double and everything’s lining up for him‚” said Quinn.
“I think we’re going to see Wayde do the 300m world record [tomorrow].”
Van Niekerk is the thirdfastest man in history over this seldom-run distance‚ his 31.03 slower only than Bolt’s 30.97 and Michael Johnson’s 30.85.
Van Niekerk smashed Johnson’s 17-year-old 43.18 400m world mark winning Olympic gold in 43.03 last year.
Of Van Niekerk’s two oldest 400m rivals‚ Kirani James has been ill and Merritt is way off his best.
In the 200m, Van Niekerk’s biggest competition will come from Olympic silver medallist Andre De Grasse‚ Webb‚ Blake and even Simbine‚ who was inexplicably overlooked by local selectors for the 200m at last year’s Rio Games.
Veteran Justin Gatlin won the American 100m title in 9.95‚ but he has yet to run a 200m this season. — TMG