Wayde van Niekerk looked under-cooked in his 400m season-opener in New York on Sunday, finishing third in a race where he started slowly and failed to deliver his trademark kick at the death.
Veteran Kirani James of Grenada, the 2012 Olympic champion, won in a 44.55sec season’s best ahead of American Chris Bailey in 44.73 and Van Niekerk in 44.74.
The 31-year-old South African owner of the 43.03 world record, the 2016 Olympic champion, had the satisfaction of beating Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago, who ended fourth in 44.82.
None of the times were going to set the world alight compared to the 44.05 world lead set by Canadian Christopher Morales-Williams, but blustery conditions hampered several performances at the USATF grand prix meet.
There were also a few impressive displays. Hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won the women’s 400m in 48.76, two-hundredths of a second outside her personal best, and Noah Lyles won the 200m in 19.77, the fourth-fastest time in the world so far this year.
Van Niekerk raced in the 200m at the national championships in Pietermaritzburg in April and also ran a few 4x400m relays. He had been scheduled to race an individual 400m last month, but pulled out after picking up a niggle.
He has a little more than a month to get into top shape before the Paris Games, where he is also set to compete in the 4x400m relay. But there were two parts of his race that were noticeably different to the era when he ruled the world from 2015 to 2017 with two world titles and his Olympic crown.
Van Niekerk’s start was visibly slower than it used to be, and his finish lacked that turbo-boost at the death.
His fastest time since injuring his right knee in 2017 was the 44.08 he ran in July last year, but he has yet to prove he can run three rounds at a championship at full strength.
Under-cooked Wayde van Niekerk ends third in 400m season-opener
Image: Backpagepix.com
Wayde van Niekerk looked under-cooked in his 400m season-opener in New York on Sunday, finishing third in a race where he started slowly and failed to deliver his trademark kick at the death.
Veteran Kirani James of Grenada, the 2012 Olympic champion, won in a 44.55sec season’s best ahead of American Chris Bailey in 44.73 and Van Niekerk in 44.74.
The 31-year-old South African owner of the 43.03 world record, the 2016 Olympic champion, had the satisfaction of beating Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago, who ended fourth in 44.82.
None of the times were going to set the world alight compared to the 44.05 world lead set by Canadian Christopher Morales-Williams, but blustery conditions hampered several performances at the USATF grand prix meet.
There were also a few impressive displays. Hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won the women’s 400m in 48.76, two-hundredths of a second outside her personal best, and Noah Lyles won the 200m in 19.77, the fourth-fastest time in the world so far this year.
Van Niekerk raced in the 200m at the national championships in Pietermaritzburg in April and also ran a few 4x400m relays. He had been scheduled to race an individual 400m last month, but pulled out after picking up a niggle.
He has a little more than a month to get into top shape before the Paris Games, where he is also set to compete in the 4x400m relay. But there were two parts of his race that were noticeably different to the era when he ruled the world from 2015 to 2017 with two world titles and his Olympic crown.
Van Niekerk’s start was visibly slower than it used to be, and his finish lacked that turbo-boost at the death.
His fastest time since injuring his right knee in 2017 was the 44.08 he ran in July last year, but he has yet to prove he can run three rounds at a championship at full strength.
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