SA track icon Wayde van Niekerk withdraws from Olympics’ 400m event, to focus on 200m

South African athletics icon Wayde van Niekerk has reportedly withdrawn from the 400m event at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, and will instead focus on the 200m.According to reports, as a result of his withdrawal from the 400m, Van Niekerk will no longer be able to compete in the 4x400m relay.The 4x400m team finished second at the World Athletics Relays in the Bahamas in May, and was seen as having a chance of picking up a medal in Paris. But without the 31-year-old Van Niekerk, they are expected to struggle.Van Niekerk famously claimed the 400m gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro games, where he broke Michael Johnson’s 20-year-old world record, winning his final in a time of 43.03. However, in the years that followed, Van Niekerk struggled to scale those heights and was never the same again. A freak accident in a celebrity touch rugby match at Newlands in 2017 kept him out for a while, and when he did return, he was a shadow of his former self.He was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 400m at the 2020 Tokyo Games — held in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He looked to have regained his best form during the 2023 Diamond League, but followed that up with another poor showing at the world championships in Budapest.IOL Sport

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SA track icon Wayde van Niekerk withdraws from Olympics’ 400m event, to focus on 200m

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