World 400m champion Wayde van Niekerk clocked 44.11sec at the SA Open in Bloemfontein on Friday morning to lay a marker ahead of the Rio Olympics in August. That time elevates him to No2 in the world so far this year‚ just behind reigning Olympic champion Kirani James of Grenada on 44.08 but in front of American LaShawn Merritt‚ the previous world champion‚ on 44.22. Van Niekerk, Semenya and Mokoka book tickets to RioWayde van Niekerk, Caster Semenya and Stephen Mokoka brought a measure of predictability back to the SA Senior Athletics Championships that witnessed a few upsets at the Coetzenburg Stadium in Stellenbosch.Van Niekerk’s time was initially listed on the timing clock at 43.88‚ but it later emerged that it was wrong.It was still a good effort by Van Niekerk‚ who was effectively running on his own‚ finishing more than three-and-a-half seconds faster than his nearest rival in the heat‚ Willie de Beer.He collapsed after his effort - his usual reaction after a hard run - and decided to withdraw from the afternoon semifinals.Wayde van Niekerk heads SA Sports Awards listAthlete Wayde van Niekerk, one of SA's two reigning world champions, has been rewarded for his 400m heroics in 2015 with two nominations for the revamped SA Sports Awards amid surprise at some of the omissions.This was the same track where Van Niekerk went 9.98sec in the 100m to become the first man ever to do a sub-10 100m‚ sub-20 200m and sub-44 400m.Van Niekerk clocked 43.48 last year as he won the world championships in Beijing ahead of Merritt and James.Watch SA’s Wayde van Niekerk's three history making races hereSouth African sprinting sensation Wayde van Niekerk made sprinting history by becoming the first man to run the 100m in under 10 seconds‚ the 200m in under 20 seconds and the 400m in under 44 seconds. Watch all three of the races here.There are pundits who believe Michael Johnson’s 43.18 world record from August 1999 might not survive the year. - TMG Digital..