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South Africa's speedster Wayde van Niekerk has set a new record at the Paris 2024 Olympic tournament in France.
In the 400-meter track and field event, Wayde van Niekerk currently holds both the world and Olympic records.
The sprinter shot to fame in athletics in 2016 after setting a stunning new 400-meter world record in 43.03 seconds.
We examine the biography of Wayde van Niekerk, a speedster from South Africa who holds the world record in the 400m.
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14:55 - 06.08.2024
'I never enjoyed running the 400m' - South African speedster reveals eight years after setting World and Olympic Record
Wayde van Niekerk broke into athletics limelight in 2016 when he ran a jaw-dropping new 400m World Record in 43.03s. Ironically, eight years after his historic feat, he says he never enjoyed running the event and want to find love in the sport again.
14:55 - 06.08.2024
'I never enjoyed running the 400m' - South African speedster reveals eight years after setting World and Olympic Record
Wayde van Niekerk broke into athletics limelight in 2016 when he ran a jaw-dropping new 400m World Record in 43.03s. Ironically, eight years after his historic feat, he says he never enjoyed running the event and want to find love in the sport again.
5 things to know about Wayde van Niekerk
Van Niekerk is presently competing in the 200-meter race at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, rather than his signature 400-meter event.
The South African made the semi-final of the men’s 200m coming in third in the heat, but failed to qualify for the finals.
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Who is Wayde van Niekerk?
Track and field sprinter Wayde van Niekerk represents South Africa in the 200 and 400 metres.
Wayne van Niekerk and sprinter Odessa Swarts (née Krause) welcomed Van Niekerk into the world in Cape Town. Due to his early birth, he required blood transfusions.
When Van Niekerk and his mother moved to Bloemfontein in 2005, he attended Simonberg Primary and Bellville Primary.
He attended Grey College there before continuing to the University of the Free State to study marketing.
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Is Wayde van Niekerk married?
Yes, Van Niekerk is married to Chesney Campbell. The couple tied the knot on 29 October 2017.
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Wayde van Niekerk family
As of 2016, Van Niekerk lived in Bloemfontein with his mother, Odessa Swarts, and stepfather, Steven Swarts. His birth parents are divorced.
Kayla Swarts, his sister, represents her country in hockey in both the Junior Africa Cup and the FIH Nations Cup.
Van Niekerk is the cousin of Cheslin Kolbe, a South African rugby union and rugby sevens player who won the World Cup.
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Wayde van Niekerk’s career
At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Van Niekerk won a silver medal in the 400 meters, and in the 2013 Summer Universiade, he won a silver in the 4×400 meters relay.
In the 2013 and 2015 Athletics World Championships, he competed on behalf of South Africa. He won the 400-meter gold medal at the 2015 World Championships.
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In addition to winning the silver medal in the 200-meter race, he successfully defended his championship in London two years later.
Van Niekerk surpassed Michael Johnson's 1999 mark of 43.18 seconds to win the gold medal in the men's 400-meter relay at the 2016 Olympic Games. His timing set a world record of 43.03 seconds.
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Van Niekerk track and field records
In the 400 metres, Van Niekerk is the current world and Olympic record holder, having set the record when he won the event at the 2016 Olympics.
2016 saw him become the first sprinter in history to race the 100-meter, 200-meter, and 400-meter distances in less than ten, twenty, and forty-four seconds, respectively.
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Van Niekerk broke Michael Johnson's world record of 30.85 seconds in 2000 by winning the rarely run 300 meters in 30.81 seconds in 2017.
This made him the only sprinter in history to have run sub-10, sub-20, sub-31, and sub-44 times at the 100, 200, 300, and 400 metres, respectively.
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Van Niekerk net worth
According to Celebritynetworth, Wayde van Niekerk net worth is estimated to be around $3 million.
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Wayde van Niekerk net worth when converted to pounds is estimated at £2.3 million and when converted to Euro is around €2.7 million
The South African track and field sprinter has used his escapades in various tournaments to increase his net worth.
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Van Niekerk personal life
Van Niekerk initially developed his use of speed while playing rugby at junior high school in Cape Town. He was on the same team as Kolbe, his cousin.
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Kolbe competed in the Sevens while they were both members of the South African Olympic Team in Rio, more than 12 years later.
He is a devout Christian who tweeted "God is power" and "Jesus did it" after breaking the 400-meter world record.
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