Down to Earth Forever humble: That’s Wayde
| Modesty is our 400m world-record breaker’s brand
WAYDE van Niekerk possesses a rare quality that allows him to make ordinary people believe that they too can conquer the world.
His secret is not some magical key that unlocks the secret potential of each person he meets, but it’s rather his own fallibility that he’s comfortable sharing with the world.
Van Niekerk ran the 400m like Superman in Rio, yet he bleeds like any other person and is hit by the same doubts.
It was there for all to see when he was paraded at the Midrand headquarters of one of his sponsors, T Systems, along with a video of his historic race and previous interviews that were done with him and family at home.
Van Niekerk was clearly awkward when the recording of himself appeared on the screen; he couldn’t look at himself and chose to focus on the floor.
But he could watch himself run, although it was like watching somebody else, he said.
“The guy on the track is way more aggressive, confident and believes in himself so much more.
“And then you get me off the track — every second day I’m doubting this and I’m thinking of all these different aspects that could pull me down,” Van Niekerk said.
“But as soon as I get in my blocks I get a totally different mindset, that I’m not going to lose.”
The sprinter struggled with hamstring and back niggles at the Rio Olympics, and shortly before the final he cried.
“I was literally in tears before my race,” he said.
“Working for so many years on this big race and I’m feeling pain. Nobody wants that.
“I was starting to doubt myself,” admitted Van Niekerk, explaining he was happy to settle for the bronze medal — until he stepped into those blocks.
Van Niekerk’s victory in 43.03 seconds was only the third time in South African history that an Olympic gold has been won in a world record.
There was Cameron van der Burgh in the men’s 100m JUST AN ORDINARY GUY: 400m gold medallist Wayde van Niekerk says he is still plagued by doubts — off the track breaststroke four years ago and the 4x100m freestyle relay team at Athens 2004. Penny Heyns’s record at Atlanta 1996 came in the heats, not the final.
Van der Burgh, one of only eight South Africans to win Olympic medals at two Games, calls Van Niekerk a “humble hero”. “He’s so normal, but on the track he’s gangsta.”
Van Niekerk is friends with Usain Bolt, and the pair are likely to face off over 300m at some stage next year.
But the Jamaican superstar is a different beast to the South African.
In the athletes’ village in Rio, Bolt made one appearance at the massive dining hall to pose for photos and sign autographs.
He marked his arrival by standing in the doorway with his hand-on-chin posture and the world’s Olympians flocked to him. Otherwise Bolt kept a low profile there.
Michael Phelps, on the other hand, dined in public regularly, but he remained aloof by wearing a hoodie and headphones and avoiding eye contact.
Van Niekerk will have his own style of dealing with fame.
After he won the 400m world title in Beijing last year, he returned to his hotel after midnight, by which time the supper buffet had been cleared away.
A team manager had dished up a plate of food for him, but it must have been cold by the time Van Niekerk sat down to eat.
Two of us were there to interview him — he had been unavailable at the stadium after collapsing on the track and being taken to hospital — and the athlete quietly said grace before alternating between small mouthfuls of food and answering our questions.
A year has passed and Van Niekerk is less accessible to the media, but he’s still down to earth. Humility is his brand.
As soon as I get in my blocks I get a totally different mindset, that I’m not going to lose