24-year-old Wayde Van Niekerk of South Africa has broken Michael Johnson’s record of finishing the 400m in 43.18 seconds.
The South African finished in 43.03 seconds, leaving Grenadian, Kirani James and American, LaShawn Merrit behind in the trail.
This is not the first time that the African runner is breaking records as back in March, the athlete was first to run 100m in 10s, 200m in 20s and 400m in 44s.
Van Niekerk had beaten James and Merrit in last year’s World Championships at Beijing. Although the three athletes finished under 44s, the South African sprinter managed to come out fifth in the finals.
Michael Johnson was equally shocked at Wayde’s performance.
“It was a massacre,” the Olympic icon told told BBC.
The two-time-400m-Olympic-gold winner also said that he is curious to know if Van Niekerk could finish under 43s in the future, a feat he wished he performed.
“Usain Bolt will be retiring soon, this could be the next star,” Jonathan said.
Usain Bolt who won 100m gold for the third consecutive time half an hour later, said he was not surprised at the South African’s success.
Wayde Van Niekerk said it was a dream come true for him. He further went on to thank Michael Johnson for setting a good example.
“I am blessed,” Van Niekerk said.
