Two-time world champion Wayde van Niekerk has struggled to regain his old form in recent years but what is there to know about the South African who holds the 400m world record?
Wayde van Niekerk is among Africa’s most successful sprinters having not just won Olympics and world titles but also broken world records in the 400m.
Van Niekerk remains the world 400m Olympics and world record holder, having set new marks nine years ago, although injuries have slowed him down since his record-breaking performances at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The South African sprinter has been trying to rebuild his career since suffering a severe injury in 2017 but has struggled to regain the form that saw him revered before and during the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Wayde van Niekerk: Age, Origin, Injuries, Running Career & Next race
Age
Wayde van Niekerk after setting a meeting record at a past Diamond League race in Silesia. Photo/Imago
Wayde van Niekerk was born on July 15, 1992 in Cape Town, South Africa to Wayne van Niekerk and sprinter Odessa Swarts (nee Krause). He was born prematurely and needed a blood transfusion.
Origin
Wayne van Niekerk left Cape Town for Bloemfontein in 2005 when his mother Odessa Swarts moved, having separated from his father.
Running career
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Wayde van Niekerk won Olympics 400m gold in Rio 2016. Photo/Imago
Wayne van Niekerk made his international debut at the 2010 World Junior Championships, finishing fourth in 200m in a personal best 21.02 seconds, before he made his first senior appearance on home soil the following year, winning the 200m title at the 2011 African Athletics Championships in South Africa.
It was in 2012 when he started showing signs that he could be a great 400m runner when he set a best time of 46.43 seconds and the following year, he clocked his first sub-46 seconds over the distance at the 2013 South African Championships.
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Wayde van Niekerk floors his rivals at Rio 2016 to win Olympics 400m gold. Photo/Imago
At the 2013 Golden Spike Ostrava, he improved his 400m personal best to 45.09 seconds, placing second behind then Olympics champion Kirani James and he would qualify for that year’s World Championships in Moscow, Russia but did not get past the heats.
That experience served Van Niekerk well as he started 2014 impressively, topping the world rankings when he clocked his first sub-45 seconds, managing 44.92 seconds in April that year and he would clock 44.38 seconds, a new South African record, at the New York Diamond League, finishing second to LaShawn Merritt.
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The South African’s four-year stint in the USA has come to an abrupt end.
At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, he won his first senior medal, clinching silver in 400m behind James, but failed to get past the semis in 200m.
Wayne van Niekerk finally came of age in 2015 when he lowered his South African record to 43.96 at the Meeting Areva, beating James for the first time in July that year, and 10 days later, won a 200m race at the Luzern Spitzen Leichtathletik in 19.94 seconds, his first sube-20 under the distance.
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Wayde van Niekerk points to his world record at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Photo/Imago
A month later at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, China, Wayne van Niekerk won his first world title, clocking 43.48, the fourth fastest time, to beat defending champion Merritt and James, who managed second and third respectively.
In March 2016, Van Niekerk became the 107th athlete to break the 10-second barrier in the 100m, making him the first individual to break 10 seconds for 100m, 20 seconds for 200m and 44 seconds in 400m and would qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics where he was South Africa’s flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony.
Wayde van Niekerk claimed Olympics gold in 400m in a new world record time of 43.03 seconds, breaking Michael Johnson’s mark set at the 1999 World Championships, and in 2017, he defended his 400m world title and two days later, won silver in 200m, becoming the first South African to win two individual medals at the same championships.
However, after that, things started going south for the sprinter as he suffered a nasty injury in October 2017, missing the 2019 World Championships and exited the Tokyo 2020 Olympics at the semi-finals, managed fifth and seventh places at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, both in 400m, and exited at the semi-final in 200m at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Injuries
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Wayde van Niekerk has struggled to regain his old form since a nasty injury in October 2017. Photo/Imago
Wayde van Niekerk’s nadir came on October 31, 2017 when he participated in a celebrity-funded rugby match sponsored by FC soccer. During this match, he made an inverted cut and tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), needing surgery and after rehabilitation, he has struggled to hit the heights of old.
Next race
Wayde van Niekerk floors his rivals at Rio 2016 to win Olympics 400m gold. Photo/Imago
Wayde van Niekerk’s next race is still not known as he returned to South Africa in January 2025 after a four-year stint in the US.
The sprinter split from his long-time coach Tannie Ans Botha in 2021 and linked up with American Lance Baumann, who also coaches six-time world champion Noah Lyles, at his Pure Athletics Camp based in Claremont, Florida but ended that association in January 2025.
“He is officially back in South Africa. At the moment, with his stepfather Steven (Swarts). All the injuries and niggles are a thing of the past,” his agent Peet van Zyl told Olympics.com.
Fans are now waiting for news of when Wayde van Niekerk will run again and where.
