Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa (left) crosses the finish line ahead of Bryshon Nellum of the US to win their men's 400 metres heat at the 15th IAAF World Championships at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Photot: REUTERS Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa (left) crosses the finish line ahead of Bryshon Nellum of the US to win their men's 400 metres heat at the 15th IAAF World Championships at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Photot: REUTERS
Wayde van Niekerk and Wenda Nel were South Africa’s star performers at the 15th IAAF World Championships in Beijing yesterday.
Van Niekerk led the charge by nailing down a spot in tomorrow’s 400 metres final with an emphatic performance in the semi-final round. He stormed home to win the third semi in a time of 44.31 seconds, which was the fourth-best time overall for the event yesterday.
This feat will prove a huge morale boost for the South African ahead of the medal race as he shaded the defending champion, America’s LaShawn Merritt, who stopped the watches at 44.34 in second place in Van Niekerk’s semi-final.
Van Niekerk’s time was bettered by the second semi-final winner, fellow African Isaac Makwala of Botswana, who clocked 44.11 – the fastest in the penultimate round. Also quicker than the South African were the first two finishers in the first semi-final – Kirani James of Grenada (44.16) and Luguelin Santos of the Dominican Republic (44.26).
Nel claimed a second place in the women’s 400m hurdles semi-finals to advance to the final tomorrow. After a strong start, she faded some 70 metres from the finish and was clocked at 54.63.
Nothing came of SA’s three-pronged challenge in the men’s long jump qualification round, as Zarck Visser, Rushwahl Samaai and Khotso Mokoena all failed to come up to scratch.
Justin Palframan was outclassed in the women’s 400m heats, while Carina Horn’s medal hopes disappeared in the women’s 100m semis after she finished sixth in the second race in a time of 11.15.
Rocco van Rooyen was in Group A of the men’s javelin qualifying and managed a best throw of 75.55, which was well short of the 83m mark required to gain automatic passage to the final. – African News Agency