When grace beats pace
World record breaker Wayde weighed up his options, then found his mojo to go for gold Sublime Simbine aims to dip below 20sec
BATTLING to keep his faith alive, Wayde van Niekerk went into the Rio Olympics 400 metres final hoping for any medal, never mind the gold or a world record.
By his own standards the world champion was almost sluggish in his heats and semi-finals compared to former Olympic champions Kirani James of Grenada and American LaShawn Merritt.
“I’ve always had huge respect for them,knowing what they are capable of, but my main challenge was me,” Van Niekerk said.
“I gave myself the most mental pressure and stress. I remember during my heats and semi-finals, and I know I am wrong by doing this but I literally stopped believing in that gold medal.
“I thought I had lost it mentally, and if I look at my final it just shows the grace and power of the Lord.”
Behind the scenes Van Niekerk had been nursing niggling back and hamstring injuries which had been a knock to his confidence in the build-up to the Games.
Van Niekerk still went into the Rio Olympics ranked third in the world behind Merritt and James with a season’s best of 44.11 seconds from Bloemfontein in May.
Like a blinkered horse running out of lane eight, Van Niekerk finally found his mojo when it mattered most as he crossed the line in a new world-record time of 43.03 seconds.
Coming out of the bend he had a metre or so on James and Merritt but instead of fading, Van Niekerk pulled away down the home straight knocking 0.15s off Michael Johnson’s 17-year-old record.
“My checklist for 2016 was perfectly executed, I had the opportunity to cross the finish line with a personal best and looking up to the big screens there was a world record,” Van Niekerk said in an interview arranged by sponsors Defy.
“I really feel the sky’s the limit, and anything is possible. I just broke a record everybody believed was impossible to break. So why not challenge myself even more, and achieve more?”
Following the Olympics, Van Niekerk opted out of further competition this season, instead spending time doing sponsorship appearances, and seeing a doctor in Munich.
Van Niekerk had been in Munich twice over the last fortnight seeking treatment for his back and hamstrings with renowned doctor Hans-Wihelm Mueller-Wohlfahrt.
The German doctor has been treating Jamaican world 100m and 200m world record-holder Usain Bolt for most of his career.
“It has been a busy few weeks for me. Last week I was in Munich, to see the doctor about the back and hamstring problem I had this whole year now,” Van Niekerk said.
“He sorted that out and I feel so much less tension in my hamstrings. They feel so much freer and open.
“I’m grateful I had the opportunity to see him ’cause I felt an immediate relief.
“I wanted to run immediately after that (the Olympics) but I thought it would be quite stupid. I’m healing and let’s use this opportunity to rest and heal.”
Van Niekerk said it was still a mystery how he managed to run as well as he did in Rio de Janeiro as the selfdoubt due to the injuries weighed him down in his opening races.
“But when I got to the finals none of that existed, I think my emotions and body just said ‘whatever, the job needs to be done, let’s just do it’ and that is what I did,” Van Niekerk said.
“I can’t explain the finals because there was no plan, there was nothing. I was going out there to run my heart out.
“I even had enough energy to run a victory lap so it is still something amazing, and something I’m so humbled about each time I see that race.” BREAKING t hrough t he 20-second threshold in the 200 metres will be a major goal for Akani Simbine next year.
“The question is not whether Akani is capable of doing so, but when he will do it,” said his coach, Werner Prinsloo.
“I thought he would be in contention to win a bronze medal in the 200m at the Olympics in Rio, but, unfortunately, due to various circumstances, things did not work out as we had hoped.”
When Simbine, of Tuks/HPC, ran 20.16sec in Budapest shortly before the Olympics, he set a new best time in the 200m.
According to Prinsloo, the plan is for Simbine to compete in the 100m as well as 200m at next year’s world championships in London.
“I don’t think we will have to make drastic changes to his training programme to accomplish that. We will stick to the things we know work for him.
“However, I would like Akani to compete in the 200m next year. The important thing is not to overdo things. Akani did not race in as many races in 2016 as he did in 2015. I am a firm believer in the concept of the right race at the right time.”
Simbine can rightfully claim to be one of the top 100m sprinters in the world. His breakthrough race was in Budapest, where he ran 9.89sec, the fifth-fastest time in the world.
He has not run a single bad race since. He finished fifth in the Olympic final and was second at the Paris and Zurich Diamond League meetings, finishing third overall in the Diamond League standings.
Asked what he thought had led to Simbine’s establishing himself as one of the top sprinters in the world, Prinsloo said: “At the beginning of the season, my goal as coach was to help Akani to be faster out of his starting blocks. I also spend time working on the first phase (1-30m) of his race.
“In the past he tended to be just off the leader’s pace, which meant he had to work so much harder over the second part of the race. Once Akani mastered this there was no stopping him.”
Prinsloo said there was a good chance Simbine would again train with athletes like Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake in Jamaica next year.
“While I was at the Games, (Bolt’s coach) Glen Mills (coach) asked when they would see Akani again. He benefited from training in Jamaica.
“It certainly helped improve his start.”