Track and field superstar Usain Bolt had praises for new 400 metres record holder Wayde van Niekerk.
Van Niekerk ran from lane eight to win the Olympic Games gold and established a new mark of 43.03 seconds and erase the old record of 43.18 by American Michael Johnson, which was set in 1999.
He however, dismissed suggestions that he would lose a 200 metres race to the South African, who trained with him at the Usain Bolt/University of the West Indies Track, earlier this year.
“He can’t beat me over 200 metres,” he said with a mischievous smirk. “I am not worried about that.
“But I am really proud of him, because when he came to Jamaica I said to him, ‘listen you are the only person I think can break this 400 metres world record’.
“This is because he is very fast and he keeps on going. So to me, I wasn’t really surprised that he got it tonight because he runs really good and looked in good shape throughout the rounds,” said Bolt.
“He just kept going,” said Grenadian Kirani James, who finished second in 43.76 while American LaShawn Merritt, who was third in 43.85, commented, “I thought he would fade, but he was so far out there.”
