Gold for Van Niekerk in Beijing
South African athletics got its first medal of the IAAF World Championships on Wednesday evening in Beijing when Wayde van Niekerk lead from gun to line to secure the gold medal.
Van Niekerk set the 2015 world leading mark of 43.48, leaving LeShawn Merritt (43.65) and Kirani James (43.78) to take the silver and bronze respectively.
The 23-year-old reduced his personal best from 43.96 which was set earlier in the year breaking the old SA mark.
Van Niekerk clocked the fourth fastest time in history today.
Anaso Jobodwana was second behind Usain Bolt in the last of three 200m semi-finals today, recording a personal best of 20.01 to Bolt's 19.95.
The South African, who sliced 0.03 off his previous best, has been drawn in adjacent lanes to Bolt in many championships since his debut in the 200m final in Moscow.
This is the third fastest qualifying time of the semi-finals, but the finals will move to another level and another PB and probably a sub 20-second time will be required to sniff the podium.
Akani Simbine looked to be holding his own in the first heat, but dropped back over the home straight to finish sixth in 20.37 behind Britain's Zharnel Hughes. Although not making the final, Simbine has had a good championships show in both the 100m and 200m in comparison to his personal bests of 20.23.
Earlier in the session, Justine Palframan secured her place in the semi-final of the 200m with a 23.09 for third in her heat. Achieving the semis is a great advance for the young sprinter who originated from KZN and is now a student in Stellenbosch.
After a strong opening four barriers, Wenda Nel ran out of steam in the 400m hurdles to finish seventh in 54.94. Given the length of her campaign it was an acceptable performance for the South African whose personal best is 54.37. Zuzana Hejnova won gold in 53.50.
Julius Yego stole the show in the men's javelin today.
Yego, from Kenya, won gold with a huge throw of over 92m.
(File Photo: Gallo Images)
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