How 400m star Zakithi Nene beat his hamstring injury in time for Tokyo

Zakithi Nene recovered from a grade 2 tear in his right hamstring far faster than expected, allowing him to head to Tokyo as the favourite for the men’s 400m.

Nene, owner of the 43.76sec world lead, is in the hunt for two medals at the world championships in Japan — in his individual event which begins on Sunday and the men’s 4x400m relay, with the heats scheduled for September 20.

But his campaign would have been derailed, or at least severely compromised, if his recovery from injury had taken as long as initially expected.

He suffered the tear during warm-up for a meet in Budapest on August 12, forcing him to withdraw from that race as well as the last two Diamond League meets.

“Initially they said six to eight weeks, but we managed to get it done in three weeks and still put in some work,” said Nene before flying out of OR Tambo this week.

Even six weeks would have taken him to two days after the championships end on September 21.

The 27-year-old worked extensively with Dr Kevin Subban at the Prime Human Performance Institute in Durban. “I worked with physios, did hyperbaric, saw a fascia specialist, I swam a lot,” he added with a laugh.

“Did a lot of cross training just to find some form and shape and also got time to be on the track.

“I was able to still build on the momentum as well after the injury. It wasn’t like a major setback [in the end] or something to be concerned about, so I think it could have been a blessing in disguise.”

The word on the street is Nene recently completed a 350m training run in 37.7sec, a time that suggests he’s on track to run comfortably under 44 seconds in Tokyo.

Nene went 43.76 in Nairobi in late May to stake his claim as the fastest in the world, with his nearest rivals Americans Jacory Patterson (43.85) and Khaleb McRae (43.91).

Also in the mix are British star Olympic runner-up Matthew Hudson-Smith, Zambia’s Commonwealth Games champion and Paris 2024 bronze medallist Muzala Samukonga and veteran Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago, all of them sub-44 runners at their best. And then there are others in the wings, such as young Briton Charlie Dobson.

Wayde van Niekerk, the world 400m champion in 2015 and 2017, remains the only South African sprinter to have won a world title. Nene could be No 2.

He knows he’s going to be targeted but he doesn’t mind.

“Pressure is a privilege. I’ve gone from being the hunter to the hunted. But I’m just owning it. I'm enjoying the moment and I'm enjoying my running, I'm treating it as another race, another championship.

“So I’m not fixated on what's happening around me,” said Nene, who anchored South Africa to the 4x400m gold at World Relays earlier this year. 

He is also looking forward to the relay, though he doesn't want to get ahead of himself.

“I’m excited about the relay, I’m excited to be back with the boys, competing with the boys. I saw videos of them training and it seems the mood is jolly and everyone knows the assignments at hand.

“I’m taking it as it comes. My head is still fixated on Sunday [400m heats] and then we’ll take it from there.”

There’s a slim chance that Nene could be roped into the mixed 4x400m on the opening day of the showpiece on Saturday, given that he and Lythe Pillay have to contend with up to three rounds of the 400m before the men’s relay.

But should he be needed, he’ll gladly step up. “I’ve always been a strong advocate for relays. If I’m needed to run, I will compete, but that’s a decision that needs to be taken by the coaches.

“But also we have so much depth that whoever you choose to line up on the day will deliver the job, and that applies for the 4x400m men as well.

“So that’s a headache for the coaches.”