World record holder and Olympic champion Wayde van Niekerk is available to race in a relay team provided the athletes are given the right opportunities.
Van Niekerk anchored the South African men’s 4x100m relay team to claim the African Athletics Championship title in Durban in June.
The quartet that also included SA 100m record-holder Akani Simbine, Gift Leotlela and Emile Erasmus posted a time of 38.84s.
It was a rare appearance for Van Niekerk, who has been reluctant to commit in the relays unless they were medal contenders.
“We know how structures in SA go and it is hard for me to say, it all depends on.... if the guys are ready, if the guys are fit and if the guys want to do it and if we actually have the means and opportunities,” Van Niekerk said.
“We know we have quite good quality 4x100m athletes back at home but it all depends on if we have opportunities.
“Let’s hope it happens at the right time and the structures are set up for us to run it.”
Despite the South African’s world record run to claim the Olympic title, Van Niekerk still lost out at the IAAF Athlete of the Year awards to Usain Bolt who completed an unprecedented Olympic ‘triple-triple’.
Bolt won his third Olympic title in each of the 100m, 200m and 4x100m at the Rio showpiece in August.
“It has definitely been a blessed season and an amazing year of growth and a confidence-booster. I feel I’ve been growing year after year,” Van Niekerk said in Monaco.
“At the same time sitting at the awards looking at the meaning of the evening, it is a bit bitter-sweet knowing that a legend like Usain Bolt is on the verge of retiring.”
One cannot but feel Van Niekerk is in the process of taking the baton from Bolt as the foremost sprinter in the world.
Van Niekerk credited Bolt for inspiring generation of aspiring sprinters.
“He is someone we all find so much motivation and inspiration from and he is close to retiring so it is a bit sad,” Van Niekerk said.
“But at the same time it also opens up so many doors for me to believe and go out there and be the best Wayde I can.”
Van Niekerk has already shown he has the ability and potential to be a world beater in the shorter distances when he clocked his first sub-10 second time in the 100m at the Free State Championships in Bloemfontein.
“I’m really looking forward to working on my 100m and 200 metres, I always say that my first love in the sport was the short sprints.
“That’s why I do track and field. The 400 metres has brought me this far, so I don’t see a reason to go out there and neglect it. I feel that I should still put in a lot of effort in the 400 but at the same time I’ve got such a massive hunger inside me to improve my 100 and 200 as well.”
Van Niekerk has already voiced his intentions to etch out a similar career to that of Bolt.
Given the depth of sprinting talent South Africa has at its disposal it would only be natural for Van Niekerk to target relay medals.
Fortunately Athletics SA has committed to investing in the country’s relay project.