Cape Town - He ruled the 400m world last year, but now Wayde van Niekerk will hope to conquer Africa in the 200m later this month.
Athletics South Africa named a 96-strong team on Friday for the African Championships in Durban from June 22-26, and Van Niekerk was listed among three entrants in the 200m alongside national champion, 18-year-old Tuks sensation Clarence Munyai and SA 100m record holder Akani Simbine.
Van Niekerk opened his international season in the Rome Diamond League meeting on Thursday night, and held off a strong field to win in 44.19, his second-fastest time this year.
“It took me a while to recover after the race. It was a challenge, but I am glad I won. It is a good start to build up towards the rest of the season,” Van Niekerk told the Diamond League website.
“The Olympic Games will be a new challenge for me, new motivation with a different, fresh spirit. I am excited to compete against all these strong guys. I am confident, I think I have a good position this season and I am looking forward to the fight with this spirit. Never give up.”
Van Niekerk was pictured with Simbine on Twitter on Friday at Rome airport, where they will begin their journey to the Caribbean to train with Usain Bolt and his camp in Kingston, Jamaica next week.
Simbine came fifth at Rome’s Olympic Stadium on Thursday night in 10.13, with American speedster Justin Gatlin claiming victory in 9.93.
Van Niekerk and Simbine will end their trip by participating in the Racers Grand Prix next Saturday, June 11, where Simbine will run in what is set to be one of the fastest 100m races in recent times. Bolt and Simbine will be joined by a host of other Jamaican stars in Yohan Blake, Asafa Powell, Nickel Ashmeade and 2014 Commonwealth Games champion Kemar Bailey-Cole.
For the African Championships, Simbine will have SA champion Henricho Bruintjies and another Tuks teenaged star Gift Leotlela in tow in the 100m, who has a personal best of 10.20 and has run 10.21 on three occasions this year – a phenomenal time for an 18-year-old.
In the women’s sprints, double SA champion Alyssa Conley will contest both the 100m and 200m, with 100m record holder Carina Horn concentrating on the shorter distance.
Caster Semenya, who won an unprecedented treble at the SA championships in April, will take part in the 800m and 1 500m in Durban. Semenya is in fine form at the moment and equalled her world-leading time of 1:56.64 in winning in Rome on Thursday.
There will be a terrific competition in the men’s 400m hurdles, with all three South African athletes – LJ van Zyl, Lindsay Hanekom and Cornel Fredericks – having run under 50 seconds this year. But Kenya’s world champion Nicholas Bett will be the favourite for the gold medal, although both Van Zyl and Hanekom have run quicker times than Bett so far in 2016.
Fredericks, though, will be looking to run an Olympic qualifying time of 49.40 as he makes his way back from an injury-plagued last few seasons, with Van Zyl and Hanekom having already booked their spots for Rio.
The men’s long jump sees Ruswahl Samaai, Luvo Manyonga and Stefan Brits – who have all jumped past the Olympic qualifying distance of 8.16m this year – as sure bets for all three medals in Durban.
@IndyCapeSport