Rio - Wayde van Niekerk, South Africa’s brand new 400m Olympic and world-record holder, has made it a life habit to surprise those near and dear to him.
It started when he was born premature to parents Odessa and Wayne, and has continued right through a startling career, and finally reached a crescendo late on a mad night in Rio.
It had to be a Sunday, the favourite day of the week for the deeply religious 24-year-old.
The crowds came for Usain Bolt’s Super Sunday coronation, but a new heir to the track throne emerged to snatch headlines before the supposed main event, at a startled Stadio Olimpico.
From lane eight, no one anticipated Van Niekerk would do what he did.
Typically, Van Niekerk had prioritised the Liverpool game against Arsenal, and the ridiculous 4-3 win played its part in putting him in the right frame of mind.
“I was losing my mind watching that game!” he said.
“My brother is an Arsenal fan as well, so I’ve got the world record and we beat Arsenal. I have a lot to brag about!”
That was as close as he came to boasting, and only because it would be to his brother.
He thanked God.
He thanked his family, all present and going nuts in the stands.
And then he thanked his heroes, including Bolt.
“He came up to me and told me that he knew I could do it!”
In the midst of Bolt’s own record-smashing night, it was telling that he ran over to Van Niekerk’s family party, embraced the man of the moment and passed on the spotlight to the South African.
Bolt, who started as a 400m runner, knows the pain that goes with sprinting for a lap, and has often baulked at the training required to meet the demands.
“He was brilliant. I knew that he was definitely gonna do it. I told him he was gonna do it in Jamaica,” Bolt said.
“He’s got speed and he’s got strength. I am really happy for him, and really proud of him.”
But it was all about Van Niekerk, as even Bolt cut short his interview to congratulate Van Niekerk.
“I’d love to run the 300 against him next year,” Bolt said.
“I told him he could do it. My coach said aside from me, he was the only one who could break that world record. I’m proud of him,” the great sprinter added.
Van Niekerk helped Team South Africa rise to seven medals, adding to the silver medals of Chad le Clos (two), Cameron van der Burgh, Luvo Manyonga, Lawrence Brittain and Shaun Keeling, and the bronze from Sevens rugby side.
It ensured that Rio 2016 is South Africa’s greatest haul of medals since readmission, on a night that the team’s flag bearer became the standard bearer.
Van Niekerk could scarcely believe he had just broken a 17-year-old mark set by another of his idols, Michael Johnson.
The American, long regarded as the greatest 400m runner ever, congratulated him fully on the new 43.03 mark.
“Congratulations Wayde on breaking my record. Enjoy this moment. I know the feeling,” Johnson tweeted.
Despite all the mentions, the shout outs and the selfie requests that happened in the middle of his chat to journalists, Van Niekerk was happiest that his family was there to see him.
“I’ve got my family here man. It’s a blessing,” he beamed.
He had thanked his lucky stars that he could afford to pay for them to be in Rio with him – thanks to his world champion status from last year.
On the back of last night, when he broke Twitter, the world record, and celebrated with the original drawcard for Super Sunday, Wayde van Niekerk can afford whatever he and his family desires.
The South African has just become the quietest superstar in the world.