Wayde beats record older than he is

SPRINTER Wayde van Niekerk yesterday broke an African record that had stood since before he was born, although it was in the rarely staged 300m.

The Commonwealth Games 400m silver medallist clocked 31.63 seconds to win this one-off event at the Diamond League meeting in Birmingham. Bahamian veteran Christopher Brown, winner of three Olympic 4x400m medals, was second in 31.99, ahead of Briton Delano Williams, the 2012 world junior champion over 200m, third in 32.14.

Van Niekerk, who also holds the South African 400m mark, beat the 31.74 African record set in 1986 by Ivorian Gabriel Tiacoh, the 1984 Olympic 400m runner-up.

Stephen Mokoka clocked 13 minutes 20.22 seconds as he finished a distant third in the 5,000m, behind Kenyans Thomas Longosiwa, the 2012 Olympic bronze medallist, and Isiah Koech, third at the 2013 world championships. Both were faster than Mokoka’s 13:11.44 South African record, Longosiwa winning in 13:07.26 and Koech in 13:11.22. Elroy Gelant failed to start the race.

Training partners Khotso Mokoena and Zarck Visser both disappointed in the long jump, finishing fifth and last respectively.

Mokoena, the 2008 Olympic silver medallist, produced his best jump on his second attempt, clearing 8.10m, but it did not trouble reigning Olympic and Commonwealth Games champion Greg Rutherford, who managed 8.35m.

Even his second-best leap of 8.24m would have given him the triumph over American Michael Hartfield (8.24m), and fellow Briton Dan Brumble (8.17m).

Visser, who returned from a lengthy injury layoff only last month, failed to reach 8m, posting a best jump of 7.74m.