Wayde moves up rankings
WORLD 400m record-holder Wayde van Niekerk further confirmed his status among the all-time fastest men by climbing up the list of all-round sprinters.
International athletics statistician Jon Mulkeen brings out an annual list, using sprinters’ personal best times in the 100m, 200m, 400m, and the latest IAAF scoring tables.
Van Niekerk has moved up from 21st place a year ago to fourth, behind Jamaican sprinting icon Usain Bolt and Americans Michael Johnson and Tyson Gay, who occupy the top three places on the list.
Bolt tops the list with his world records of 9.59 seconds in the 100m and 19.19 seconds in the 200m, while he has run a personal best time of 45.28sec in the 400m.
The 24-year-old South African rocketed up the rankings earlier this year when he posted a sub-10 second time in the 100m at the Free State Championships in Bloemfontein.
In doing so, he became the first man to dip below 10sec, 20sec, and 44sec in the 100m, 200m, and 400m, catapulting him to fifth place on the list.
Van Niekerk moved up one place since then, thanks to his world-record and Olympic title-winning run at the Rio Games last month.
He obliterated a quality field in the 400m final in Rio, shaving 0.15 seconds off Johnson’s long-standing world record by clocking 43.03sec. Van Niekerk boasts a personal best of 19.94sec in the halflap sprint, and a 100m time of 9.98sec.
The list may not be the definitive guide to the best sprinters of all time because there are some athletes that have not taken on the lactic acid-inducing 400m or a one-lap runner that have not run anything shorter than the 200m. But it does highlight athletes’ incredible ability over the three major sprinting events.
As his career takes off, one can expect Van Niekerk to make further gains in the list as he targets the shorter distances, now that he is the owner of the 400m world record.
Van Niekerk posted the third fastest time ever over the odd 300m distance in Kingston, Jamaica, earlier this year when he clocked 31.03sec.
Johnson is the current record holder with 30.85sec, while Bolt is the second fastest man ever with 30.97sec.
That record could be under threat because there are serious talks of Bolt and Van Niekerk taking each other on in a 300m race in the first half of the 2017 season.
Speaking to South African media shortly after the Olympic Games, Van Niekerk said he would make a real effort of getting closer to Bolt’s records in the shorter distances.
“Getting such praise and recognition from the ‘King of Sprints’ really does give you a massive boost as an athlete to want to dream bigger and try and achieve what he has achieved,” Van Niekerk said in reaction to Bolt’s endorsement of the South African athlete at the Games.
“Now, I have the opportunity to chase down his times, so let’s see what happens. He has motivated and inspired me to believe I can do it, as well.”