Cape Town - Olympic gold medallist Wayde van Niekerk was on Fridaycelebrated at Groote Schuur Hospital in Observatory, Cape town, when staff unveiled a banner marking his 400m win in Rio de Janiero.
Van Niekerk broke the men’s world record on Monday. He ran a 43.03sec time.
The 24-year-old, born in Kraaifontein, was a premature baby.
After he was named South African sportsman of the year last year, he donated R500 000 to Groote Schuur. It was part of his prize, which included a Mercedes-Benz C-class and a R500 000 donation to a charity of his choice.
Van Niekerk donated the money to the Newborns Trust, a non-profit that raises funds for the premature baby unit at Groote Schuur.
Hospital spokesperson Alaric Jacobs said yesterday they hoped Van Niekerk would visit them again on November 17, when World Prematurity Day is marked. “Wayde was a premmie baby but he was not a Groote Schuur patient. He has been involved with our hospital over the past few years. He is a supporter of the Newborns Trust. We are proud of him.”
Jacobs and 300 of the hospital’s 3 700 staff members on Friday dressed in green and goldand unveiled a banner honouring Van Niekerk.
The banner will be displayed at the entrance to the main building of the hospital for the next two weeks, said Jacobs.
Destiny Titus, an administration clerk at the hospital, said they were “very excited that we could acknowledge his achievement”.
“It’s a world achievement. It brought very beautiful emotions out of a person,” said Titus.
“We wanted to show that we appreciate him. He brought us together as a country.”
Rudyan Solomon, a security systems administrator at the hospital, said: “We are proud of him. He broke a world record.”
Weekend Argus