South African scores upset in 400 meters

Long after two of the big names at 400 meters had left the track in second and third place, the winner was sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath and getting his pulse checked by a medic.

That’s how 23-year-old Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa made a name for himself at the world championships in Beijing on Wednesday night.

A muggy evening at the Bird’s Nest started with Usain Bolt laughing as he cruised into the finish of his winning 200-meter semifinal heat to set up another goldmedal showdown with Justin Gatlin. It ended with Van Niekerk topping two Olympic and world champions, LaShawn Merritt and Kirani James, before being carted off the track on a stretcher, then loaded into an ambulance. He was taken to the hospital for precautionary measures, then released later in the evening.

Van Niekerk won in 43.48 seconds, the sixth-best performance of all time. He won by .17 over Merritt, the 29-year-old, two-time world and 2008 Olympic champion, who himself posted a personal best.

Gatlin enjoyed another easy run in the 200-meter semifinals to set up another showdown with Bolt on Thursday night. Gatlin ran his semifinal heat in 19.87, the second-fastest semifinal ever run at worlds. Bolt won his in 19.95, and was basically jogging to the finish.

Shamier Little and Cassandra Tate finished 2-3 in the 400-meter hurdles to round out the U.S. haul and bring the Americans’ disappointing total to nine medals over the first five days of the championships.

Kenya made history when javelin thrower Julius Yego won the first gold medal in a field event for a country renowned as a cradle of distance running.