He still has work to do, but Wayde could be back for good

It may seem overly optimistic at this stage, given the sporadic nature of his comeback, but Wayde van Niekerk looks set to challenge for top spot again as he attempts to reclaim his place as the world’s best 400m runner.

After picking up a serious injury in 2017, Van Niekerk attempted a comeback last year, but his knee popped again, suggesting his career might have come to the most anticlimactic of ends.

Earlier this year, however, he returned once more, and while he was sidelined again by the Covid-19 pandemic, his brief domestic campaign offered a tremendous amount of relief to the sprinter and his fans.

At a small meeting in Bloemfontein, Van Niekerk slammed it down in the 100m and 200m events, clocking fast early-season times of 10.10 and 20.31 respectively.

He wasn’t just back. It was if he had never left.

Even more promising was the news that his knee had held up after two hard races in one day.

While his season was later disrupted first by the lockdown and then by a positive coronavirus test which forced him into self-isolation in Italy, Van Niekerk was able to race once more before the end of the year, clocking 45.58 over his favoured 400m distance at a European
Tour meeting in Switzerland last week.

Though he was more than two seconds outside the world record he set when he won gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, his performance at the end of a patchy season was sufficient to suggest a full pre-season could see him challenging for gold again at next year’s Tokyo Games.

But it’s not just the results he has produced, or the indication that he has fully recovered from a potential career-ending injury, which suggests he’s ready to hit his straps again.

Aside from the traits which have seen him climb to the top in the past, including a tremendous work ethic and significant big match temperament, we know Van Niekerk can bounce back to his best because he’s done it before.

As a teenager, after narrowly missing out on a 200m medal at the World Junior Championships, he and his coach Ans Botha had to work hard to overcome persistent injury troubles, which resulted in their decision to move up in distance to the 400m event.

So, yes, it’s very optimistic to believe that he can get back to the form which carried him to two world titles and an Olympic gold, especially considering he’s run less than a handful of one-lap races
in the last few years and has broken 46 seconds only once since 2017.

With patience and commitment, however, Van Niekerk really does seem to be back on track, and he could well tear up the track next year.

There are, of course, no guarantees in this world, and returning from a serious knee injury is unpredictable at best.

But if any athlete has the ability, it’s Wayde van Niekerk, and he’s made it clear he’s giving it his best shot.

Wesley Botton.

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