Van Niekerk the new Bolt

TWO key character traits have contributed to the success of Wayde van Niekerk‚ according to a former world champion sprinter.

One is that Van Niekerk prefers to challenge himself rather than focus on the rivals around him‚ and the other is that he thrives on the big stage.

Mathew Quinn‚ who had tipped Van Niekerk to beat the 300m world best held by Michael Johnson this week‚ said the speedster ran for himself‚ to challenge himself.

“He just happens to smash everyone when testing himself‚” Quinn‚ a 4x100m relay gold medallist at the 2001 world championships, said.

In the space of 19 days, Van Niekerk has run personal bests over three distances – in the 200m (19.84 SA record and world lead in Jamaica)‚ 100m (9.94sec in Slovenia) and, most recently, the 30.81 300m in the Czech Republic.

“He lives for the big occasion and the big challenges,” Quinn said.

“In Jamaica, he wanted the SA [200m] record and went out and got it‚” Quinn said.

After breaking Johnson’s 400m and 300m world marks‚ the question that must be asked is whether Van Niekerk is capable of beating Johnson’s 200m 19.32 effort that had stood as a world record until Usain Bolt‚ who lowered it twice‚ to 19.30 in 2008 and then 19.19 in 2009.

Bolt, meanwhile, has said that Van Niekerk could be the athlete to take over track and field.

Bolt is in his final season of a glittering career that has seen him win eight Olympic and 11 world gold medals with a charisma and charm that have made him one of the most recognisable faces in world sport.

The massive void his absence will leave looks most likely to be filled by Van Niekerk, whose personality remains considerably less than Bolt’s larger-than-life version.

Asked whether the South African was his likely successor, Bolt was definitive.

“He’s shown he’s ready for the challenge. He’s really down to earth, he’s really humble,” he said.

“He listens and wants to be good. If he continues like this, he’ll take over track and field.”