Wayde Van Niekerk wins silver in 200m, Makwala finishes 6th

10 August 2017 - 23:25 By DAVID ISAACSON in London
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(L-R) US athlete Isiah Young, South Africa's Wayde Van Niekerk and Britain's Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake compete in the final of the men's 200m athletics event at the 2017 IAAF World Championships at the London Stadium in London on August 10, 2017.
(L-R) US athlete Isiah Young, South Africa's Wayde Van Niekerk and Britain's Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake compete in the final of the men's 200m athletics event at the 2017 IAAF World Championships at the London Stadium in London on August 10, 2017.
Image: Jewel SAMAD / AFP

Wayde van Niekerk finished second in the 200m at the world championships in London on Thursday night, adding a silver medal to the 400m gold he won on Tuesday night. 

He might not have scooped the golden double he was aiming for, but he is still the first South African athlete to land two sprint medals at a single meet. 

Van Niekerk and Ramil Guliyev were neck and neck down the home straight but it was the Turk who hit the line first in 20.09sec. 

Van Niekerk clocked 20.11, edging Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago into third place by one-thousandth of a second. 

Isaac Makwala of Botswana was sixth in 20.44. 

These are also the second world championships in a row with a South African medallist in this event, after Anaso Jobodwana took bronze in Beijing in 2015. 

Guliyev was the only surivor from the finals at the 2015 world championships and Rio Olympics. 

It was a solid performance for Van Niekerk who had struggled in the semifinals, nearly missing out on a spot in the final.

This was also SA’s fifth medal in London, making these championships the most successful for the nation; the two gold, silver and two bronze eclipse the two gold and silvers from Paris 2003. ​

 - TimesLIVE

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