Taking first place gold with 19.90 seconds, Wayde van Niekerk ran the best South African time for 2017 in the 200m sprint at the South African Athletics Championships in Potchefstroom on Saturday. Coming second was Akani Simbine who held the previous 2017 record of 19.95. This came after Wayde placed second the previous night in the 100m, a race which was won by Akani.
This was a career best for Wayde and the second time in his career that he had dipped below 20 seconds. Despite being able to smash the SA record, he decided to slow down during the last 15m after he realized that he was winning. He says that it is more important for athletes to maintain their bodies for future international races than it is to smash records. The SA record of 19.87 is held by Anaso Jobodwana.
With the South African season coming to an end, he will getting ready to compete in international competitions as well as preparing for the World Championships in London later this year in August.
Watch the video of the race below:
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