Following a nervy finish and ultimately booking a spot in the 400m final, South African world-record holder Wayde van Niekerk is disappointed at the way he scraped his way through to the final.
Van Niekerk secured qualification through the non-automatic route, after finishing third in a highly contested semi-final race at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Tuesday.
The athlete, with the fastest time of 44.08 seconds this year, could not replicate his Rio Olympics world record time due to missing his usual finishing kick.
“I am very disappointed,” Van Niekerk said after the race.
“Let’s see what I will be able to do another day. I have time to recover, regroup and then I will come back to do my best in the final. Hopefully I will be able to win a medal.
“I saw that [Steven] Gardiner [a Bahamian track and field sprinter] was out due to injury. It is not so nice to see somebody finishing a competition injured like that.
“I know that coming back from injury is very difficult. I still remember all these dangerous times. I really want to wish him a speedy recovery.”
In the same semi-final, Jamaican Antonio Watson (44.13) and American Vernon Norwood (44.26) claimed automatic qualifying positions with personal best times.
Van Niekerk endured the “queue room,” where athletes wait to see if their times suffice for the fastest loser spots.
Ultimately, the 31-year-old secured his place in the final as no one from subsequent semis outperformed his time, expressing relief by hugging his rival Kirani James.
Teammate Zakithi Nene failed to advance in the third semi-final, even with Olympic champion Gardiner’s injury.
Nene finished in position five with the time of 45.64 – far from his season’s best of 44.74.
Van Niekerk will be desperate to bounce back and deliver a gold medal when the final takes centre stage on Thursday.
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