Another Johnson record in Wayde’s sights

While his spectacular form suggests another of American icon Michael Johnson’s long-standing marks could fall in Lausanne this evening, Wayde van Niekerk (right) insists he is not worried about breaking the meeting record at the eighth leg of the Diamond League series.

After shattering Johnson’s 400m world record when he clocked 43.03 at the Rio Olympics last year, and bettering the US legend’s 300m world best when he covered the distance in 30.81 in Ostrava last week, the versatile sprinter from Bloemfontein was tipped to eclipse the 21-year-old meeting record of 43.66 in the one-lap race in Lausanne.

Van Niekerk, however, insisted yesterday he was not putting pressure on himself ahead of a 200m/400m double at next month’s World Championships in London.

“I’ve never entered a meeting wanting to break a specific record or a specific time, but as competitors we’re here to rewrite history and do great things, and if the record comes it will be a blessing,” he said.

“There are still a few more weeks before we get to the World Championships, so I still have a lot of hard work to do.”

Nonetheless, having set a 100m personal best (9.94) and a 200m national record (19.84) this season, along with his most recent 300m performance, Van Niekerk was not writing off a potential fast time in his first top-flight 400m race of the year, which was scheduled to start at 9.40pm.

“All my 100m, 200m and 300m times thus far have been a surprise to me, so I’m really just going to go out there and keep doing what I’ve been doing the entire season,” he said.

Van Niekerk was one of six SA athletes in the entry lists for the Diamond League meeting, along with javelin thrower Sunette Viljoen (7.40pm), 400m hurdlers Cornel Fredericks and LJ van Zyl (8.54pm) and 100m sprinters Akani Simbine and Henricho Bruintjies (9.20pm).