Van Niekerk beaten in Bloemfontein
The world 400m record holder, Wayde van Niekerk, was beaten last night during the 100m sprint at the Athletics Speed Series 2 at the Mangaung Athletics Stadium in Bloemfontein.
As was expected it was a head-to-head battle between Van Niekerk and the 19-year-old Gift Leotlela.
Leotlela came from behind to pip both Van Niekerk and Emile Erasmus to the line. The time was given as handheld time after the official clock once again malfunctioned.
The results indicate that Leotlela won the race in 10 seconds, while Van Niekerk and Erasmus crossed in joint second in 10.10 seconds, however, it’s not sure if these World Championship qualifying times will stand or not.
Van Niekerk conceded that losing was a bitter pill to swallow but must he must just be patient with his 100m sprint.
"I need to be patient. It is still early days. I have a lot of hard work to do. We need to swallow that tablet and work hard for the next upcoming races. It is the Free State champs this weekend. It is going to be quite tough. I am going to try and triple up to get that speed indurance work again. Like you see I still have much work to do," Van Niekerk said.
Twitter - @SportswaveAndre
Leotlela came from behind to pip both Van Niekerk and Emile Erasmus to the line. The time was given as handheld time after the official clock once again malfunctioned.
The results indicate that Leotlela won the race in 10 seconds, while Van Niekerk and Erasmus crossed in joint second in 10.10 seconds, however, it’s not sure if these World Championship qualifying times will stand or not.
Van Niekerk conceded that losing was a bitter pill to swallow but must he must just be patient with his 100m sprint.
"I need to be patient. It is still early days. I have a lot of hard work to do. We need to swallow that tablet and work hard for the next upcoming races. It is the Free State champs this weekend. It is going to be quite tough. I am going to try and triple up to get that speed indurance work again. Like you see I still have much work to do," Van Niekerk said.
Twitter - @SportswaveAndre