Wayde van Niekerk
2016 SPORTS NEWSMAKER: The little giant
In a country with a rich history of sporting excellence, no other athlete has come close to what the diffident Bloemfonteiner has achieved: despite being a relatively slight man, he bestrides his chosen sport like a colossus
If track and field had grand slams, Wayde van Niekerk would hold one and the great Usain Bolt another. Van Niekerk is a world and Olympic champion, and a world record-holder over 400m; the charismatic Jamaican owns all three of those titles in the 100m and 200m. Such achievements are as rare as holding all four of golf’s major titles or winning all four grand slam events in tennis. Van Niekerk has been unbeatable over 400m for the past two years. In purely parochial terms he is the SA sportsperson of the year, prevailing against some stiff competition: Caster Semenya also won Olympic gold, in the women’s 800m; Brad Binder is world champion in motorcycling’s MotoGP3; and Hank McGregor has dominated kayaking across the world. In a country with a rich history of sporting excellence, no other athlete has come close to what the diffident Bloemfonteiner has achieved: even though he’s a relatively slight man, he bestrides his chosen sport like a colossus. With the quickly shifting fortunes...
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