Starting in lane eight, Van Niekerk charged out the blocks and held the lead from start to finish in the men’s 400m final at the Rio Olympics, shattering the world record to secure the gold medal in 43.03 seconds, the Citizen reported.

The Citizen reported that the 24-year-old speedster, who won the world title last year, chopped 0.15 off the 17-year-old global mark previously held by American star Michael Johnson.

Defending champion Kirani James of Grenada took second place in 43.76, and Beijing 2008 champion LaShawn Merritt of the United States ended third in 43.85.

“I was so scared someone was going to catch me I just kept pushing and pushing, and at the end I just dove for the line,” Van Niekerk said.

While James had lined up as the favourite, after dominating the earlier rounds, he was unable to put up a fight against the South African.

“He just kept going and going, and never slowed down, but I’m proud of Wayde’s accomplishment and so proud to be a part of history,” James said.

Van Niekerk became the first SA athlete to set a world record in an Olympic track event since Paul Nash clocked 10.0 in the men’s 100m dash in 1968.

While Danie Malan set a global mark in the men’s 1 000m contest in 1973, the race is not an Olympic event.

Shortly after the 400m dash, Van Niekerk waited at the side of the track to watch good friend Akani Simbine in the men’s 100m final.

Simbine produced an impressive performance, taking fifth place in 9.94, with Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt earning his third straight title in the short dash in 9.81.

Bolt, who trained with the duo in Kingston earlier this year, had given Simbine a hug while the SA record holder was waiting to see if he had progressed beyond the 100m semifinals, and also went up to Van Niekerk to congratulate him after his record performance.

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