Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Wayde Van Niekerk, the 24 year old South African Olympian, has done our country proud, landing first place in the Men’s 400m (final) race.

South Africa’s first gold medal at Rio 2016 represents a landmark in sporting history, as Wayde did not only place first, but also broke a 17 year old world record. This makes Wayde Van Niekerk an Olympic Champion and current World Record Holder for the 400m event. The new Record Holder’s official time was a whopping 43.03 seconds, beating the previous World Record of 43.18 seconds – which was set by Michael Johnson, in 1999.

Wayde has clearly set a benchmark in the world of Athletics, as he also ran 100m in under 10 seconds, which he ranked in at 9.98 seconds.

The Gold Medalist previously competed in other international events, including the 2015 World Championships which were the held in Beijing, and the 2014 Commonwealth Games – held in Glasgow.

Van Niekerk’s win at the 2016 Rio Olympics was the first 400m win for Lane Eight since 1924 (in 92 years) – this is not only proving, but also emphasizing, his athletic skill, natural born talent, and hard work.

Congratulations, Wayde!