“Wayde has always been a fighter,” said Swarts. Van Zyl said last week they received clearance to travel but still needed to find a flight.Can van Niekerk return to his pre-injury level?
15 JUN 2019
Just to start was a dream.”Hirschi is not among the contenders for the overall title. It complements the 400m … he will really excel in the 200m.”After setting the 2016 Rio Games alight with his 43.03sec run, Van Niekerk hasn’t taken his foot off the accelerator.He took time off, a critical ploy to keep what used to be a frail body injury free. Wayde van Niekerk, along with two fellow leading South African track-and-field stars, have arrived in Gemona, Italy as they set their sights on a potential return to competition. He began working with Botha in 2012 as a marketing student at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein. What about the potential mental hurdle of pushing that right knee to the limit in a major race?Before van Niekerk, the heir to Bolt’s sprint throne was Jamaican “The mental challenges that come with track and field is part of the process,” van Niekerk said. I just tried to keep it up,” said Van Niekerk, who crossed the line in 43.48sec.Before the Olympics coach Botha had predicted he would compete regularly in the 200m. But the week before the competition, he learned he developed a bone bruise in that right knee.“He really pushed himself a bit too hard in the week before nationals just to see really what he could do,” van Zyl said. Just that thought, ‘I’m actually busy winning, I’m actually busy winning’ was quite overwhelming. The 400 metres world record holder Wayde van Niekerk says he wants to become the first athlete to break the 43-second barrier for the one-lap event. Series
Because of his sporting talents, he ended up getting a scholarship to the prestigious Grey College high school.Initially keen on the high jump, he switched focus to sprinting after qualifying for the 200m at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Moncton, Canada.“I’d started training for the sprints at the end of 2009, having done high jump,” he recalled.“My last height was about 2.04 or 2.05, but the fact that I qualified for the World Juniors in the 200m meant that the sprints chose themselves and after that I started concentrating on the 200m and 400m.”“It was my first time competing abroad and surprisingly I made it through to the finals. There’s obviously still the Olympics next year.
Wanda Diamond League Call Room - Paris edition 400 meter Olympic Champion Wayde van Niekerk is ruled out for nine months after injuring himself playing in celebrity tag rugby tournament. “He will fight for something until he gets it.” Van Niekerk struggled with injuries as a 100m and 200m sprinter, tearing his hamstring while winning the national 200m title in 2011. 19 MAY 2020 Wayde van Niekerk injured his knee late in 2017 and took off some much-needed time to rehabilitate it but he has now released a statement to say he is on his way back. I grew and experienced so much more being injured than not being injured.That approach eventually paid dividends, with a personal best 45.09 over 400m in Ostrava in June 2013, after securing a first national title over his now specialist distance, as well as an appearance at the Moscow World Championships, albeit one that ended with an exit in the heats.However, it was only in the 2014 season that Van Niekerk really found his feet on the world stage.“That was the first year where I’ve been injury free for the whole year,” he says. Van Niekerk felt his speed returned.“He was really healthy and in the physical and mental condition that he was able to start handling tough races again,” van Zyl said.Then came the Olympic postponement, which means van Niekerk will go nearly four years between races at global championships.When he raced in Rio, van Niekerk was an emerging star who just turned 24. ‘Our hearts and minds had already drifted away from Tokyo’: Why Wayde van Niekerk is happy to wait.
I just started building up from there.”The final 50 metres were tough.