Wayde was 'nervous' before breaking 300m record

30 June 2017 - 07:28 By DAVID ISAACSON
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Wayde van Niekerk just after he broke the 300m world record at the IAAF World Challenge Zlata Tretra athletics tournament in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Wayde van Niekerk just after he broke the 300m world record at the IAAF World Challenge Zlata Tretra athletics tournament in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Image: AFP PHOTO

Wayde van Niekerk says he was nervous before breaking Michael Johnson's 300m world best in Ostrava, despite having run personal best times in the 200m and 100m in the weeks before.

The Olympic 400m champion slashed four-hundredths of a second off the American legend's 30.85sec mark as he cantered to victory by nearly a second.

His 30.81 also obliterated Usain Bolt's 30.97 meet record.

"It was a nervy buildup obviously because I've been avoiding the 300s and 400s so I'm glad I finally got to break through that," said Van Niekerk, who races his first international 400m in Switzerland on Thursday next week.

"It's a good step towards the 400m in Lausanne and I'm feeling quite positive and confident."

Meanwhile, former world champion sprinter Mathew Quinn says Van Niekerk has two key characteristics that have contributed to his success.

One is that he prefers to challenge himself rather than focus on rivals around him, and the other is that he thrives on the big stage.

Quinn , who had tipped Van Niekerk to break Johnson's 300m world best, says he "runs for himself, to challenge himself".

"He doesn't want to beat [400m rivals] Kirani James and [LaShawn] Merritt, etc, he wants to give his best. He just happens to smash everyone when testing himself," said Quinn, a 4x100m relay gold medallist at the 2001 world championships.

 "In Jamaica he wanted the South Africa [200m] record and went out and got it," said Quinn, adding that Van Niekerk would lift his game even higher at the world championships in London in August.

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