Wayde van Niekerk may be down, but the 400m world record holder is far from out.
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The former Olympic champion is still on the comeback trail after a devastating career-threatening injury back in 2017. He may have had a bit of a wobble in Tuesday night’s semifinals at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, scraping into the final as one of the fastest losers, but he has two days to pick himself up and fight for a medal in the final.
Speaking after Tuesday night’s race when he had to wait until the end of the third semifinal to see whether his time of 44.65 had been quick enough to see him through, Van Niekerk said: “Tonight was very disappointing. Obviously not close to what we all know I can do. But I live to see another day. I’ve got a day of recovery. The final is a great opportunity for each and every one of us. It’s all about the one who wants it the most, so these next few days I have to get my head right and prove to myself that this is what I want and then we put our best foot forward in the final.”
Describing the race itself where he set off at an incredible pace but ran out of steam down the home straight, Van Niekerk explained: “I’m not sure [what happened]. In the moment it didn’t feel too fast. In the moment it felt like I had my pacing fine until I got to the last 150, 120m, then it felt a bit more challenging than I thought it would have.
“I totally lost focus, the last 40m I had to regroup but then it wasn’t as easily done as said. But I live to see another day. So this is now all up to me to get my mind right, to get my body right so that I can be in my best shape in the final.”
Van Niekerk has spoken a lot about getting his mind right in recent months after his confidence took a major knock with the injury. He failed to make it past the semifinals at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and finished fifth in the final at the last World Athletics Championships in Oregon a year ago. In fact, the last time he was on a global podium was at the 2017 World Championships in London, just before the fateful injury.
Speaking about his journey back to the top of the event, where he’s run the fourth fastest time in the world this year, the 31-year-old: “It’s a lot of ups and downs, a lot of faking it till you make it, a lot of waking up when you don’t really want to, pitching up when you really can’t.
“I’m out here putting my best foot forward every time. This is really a blessing to be out here, I mean look at all the attention that I’m getting right now just by everyone excited to see me back on the track, and I don’t take this lightly. It’s a journey that a lot of athletes are going through, guys that I’m competing against as well. So I can see what an inspiration they are to me, and me being an inspiration to everyone else.
“But this is a competition. We are fighting for medals, we are fighting for positions, we are fighting for legacies, we are fighting for our own personal goals and dreams and hopefully I can finish this competition saying that I’m proud of myself and I’ve given my all.”
Asked what’s kept him going through all the tough times, Van Niekerk reckoned: “What’s kept me going? God. God and my team. The amount of times I got out of bed or onto the track not wanting to do anything and my faith picked me up, my team picked me up. It’s been a massive journey of just gratitude and thanksgiving to everyone around me that just kept showing me strength when I was weak, not giving up on me when I gave up on myself. It’s been an amazing journey and I’m just grateful for everyone that’s been pushing me through this.”
Van Niekerk will compete in the 400m final in Budapest at 9.35pm on Thursday.