South Africans have been waking up at unreasonable hours to watch our athletes compete in Rio - and Wayde van Niekerk has finally provided the gold we have been craving. For, despite the impressive five silver medals bagged by swimmers Chad le Clos (two) and Cameron van der Burgh, long-jump star Luvo Manyonga, and rowing pair Lawrence Brittain and Shaun Keeling, we have been left disappointed.One hopes Van Niekerk inspires our other medal hopefulsBanyana Banyana failed to score a goal in their three group matches and were eliminated. Amajita managed one goal better and followed suit. The Blitzboks promised much, but faded against Great Britain at the penultimate stage - eventually earning a bronze.We have been waking up to news about US swimmer Michael Phelps' awe-inspiring feats . We have been on the periphery of the global news cycle - and when we have made the news, it's been the international media's goading of Caster Semenya, whose participation in the Games has sparked an "ethical debate" .But Van Niekerk has assuaged the gloom. He broke Michael Johnson's 17-year-old 400m record by clocking 43.03. The only other time a South African athlete broke a world record at an Olympics was 88 years ago.Van Niekerk is now a household name. At just 24 years of age, he could yet break his own record in Tokyo 2020. Johnson certainly believes he could be the man on everyone's lips by then, saying yesterday: "Van Niekerk is so young, what else can he do? Can he go under 43 seconds? It is something I thought I could do, but never did. Usain Bolt will be retiring soon; this could be the next star of the sport."Van Niekerk, our flagbearer at the opening ceremony, has truly led from the front and one hopes he can inspire not only our other medal hopefuls at the Olympics and next month's Paralympics, but the millions of South Africans who were crying out for a hero - and a different narrative...