South African Wayde van Niekerk smashed the World Record to claim the first gold medal of the Rio Olympics for South Africa when he won the men’s 400m in a time of 43.03 seconds.
Starting out in the unfavourable outside lane eight, Van Niekerk went out hard and came into the final straight just ahead of American Lashawn Merritt and Grenadian Kirani James. But the 2015 World Champion increased his pace to power away and destroy the old World Record of 43.18 that had stood since 1999 set by American great Michael Johnson.
The 24-year-old took a moment before realising his achievement after the finish and began celebrating his historic run.
James had to settle for silver in 43.76, while Merritt claimed bronze in 43.85. – African News Agency (ANA)
