Olympics.com
South African athlete Wayde van Niekerk is lamenting a poor showing at the World Athletics Championships after ending on a disappointing note in Budapest on Thursday night.
The 400-metre record holder finished the final in last place in a time of 45.11 seconds, having been a lucky qualifier after finishing the semi-finals in third place and out of automatic qualification.
The gold medal was won by Jamaican Antonio Watson in a time of 44.22 seconds, with Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith second in a time of 44.31, while American Quincy Hall took the bronze medal with his time of 44.37.
Speaking to the media afterwards Van Niekerk said it was "frustrating" and he is disappointed with his performance.
He said he had to take "full responsibility," being the one who lined up for the race.
"Off-par from what I can do. Also comparing it to the medalists, it's not a good performance at all," he lamented.
Van Niekerk said looking back at his form following a measured return from a debilitating injury, he felt he "could have done better."
"I'm a 44 (second) athlete from this season. I was wrong. I did not get my race right. Still processing everything, but not happy. But, it's my reality, it's what just happened, so I obviously need to process that and see what's next," he said.
Van Niekerk said he would take the next few days to "switch off" and process everything and go from there.
