BEIJING, China, CMC/Reuters – Olympic champion Kirani James of Grenada was stunned by South African Wayde van Niekerk in the men’s 400 metres final and was forced to settle for bronze at the IAAF World Championships here yesterday.
The 23-year-old van Niekerk surged past defending champion American LaShawn Merritt and James to cross the line in a personal best and world leading time of 43.48 seconds at the Bird’s Nest Stadium.
Merritt also clocked a personal best of 43.65 while James was third in a season-best time of 43.78, in the first time the top three winners at a world championship went under 44 seconds.
Van Niekerk collapsed on the track at the end of the race and was taken to hospital with his “vital signs unstable”, the IAAF’s medical delegate said, leaving runner-up LaShawn Merritt to hail the quality of the race.
“It’s crazy. We’re warriors. We’re animals,” said the American 2013 world champion, whose personal best 43.65 was good enough only for silver ahead of Olympic champion Kirani James (43.78).
Van Niekerk was discharged just before midnight local time (1600 GMT).
It was also the second time this season Van Niekerk defeated James, having gotten the better of the 22-year-old at the Paris Diamond League on July 4.
However, James said he was not surprised about the fast times in this event, and was happy to represent his country and be part of the rivalry.
“I can say this was one of the toughest races in my life. With guys running such times, the world record could also be in threat,” he said.
“I knew LaShawn (Merritt) was gonna to be very fast and I have run a couple of races against Wayde (van Niekerk) too, so I am not surprised by the exceptional times, I knew what they are capable of.
“It was an honour for me to be part of this. I just wanted to come out there and do everything to make my country proud of me.”
James will have an opportunity to race against Van Niekerk and Merritt next week when they compete at the Diamond League in Zurich on Thursday. Isaac Makwala of Botswana will also be featured in the 400m star cast.
The women’s 200m saw competitors from Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago advancing to the semi-finals scheduled for today.
Jamaica’s Sherone Simpson (22.52), national champion Elaine Thompson (22.78) and former champion Veronica Campbell-Brown (22.79) all reached the next round along with Trinidadians Semoy Hackett (22.89) and Reyare Thomas (23.09).
Campbell-Brown appeared to have switched lane in the final metres of heat five but did not impede on Briton Margaret Adeoye in lane six, as she took victory in heat five.
There was disappointment for Commonwealth Games champion Kaliese Spencer of Jamaica who finished eighth in the women’s 400m hurdles final, with Czech Zuzana Hejnova taking gold in a world leading time of 53.50.
Americans Shamier Little (53.94) and Cassandra Tate (54.02) took the silver and bronze respectively. Janieve Russell of Jamaica ran a personal best of 54.64 for fifth position.
The Caribbean will have one jumper in the men’s triple jump final with Leevan Sands of the Bahamas picking up the final qualifying spot with 16.73 metres.
Yordanis Duranona of Dominica (16.27), Samyr Laine of Haiti (16.23) and Latario Collie-Minns of the Bahamas (16.21) did not advance from the field which is led by Cuban Pedro Pichardo (17.43).
In the men’s sprint hurdles, Barbadian Shane Brathwaite’s time of 13.28 seconds was the fastest among the Caribbean athletes in the first round.
His compatriot Greggmar Swift (13.41) will join him in today’s semi-finals.
Olympic bronze medallist Hansle Parchment of Jamaica won his heat in a time of 13.33 seconds and will be joined by Andrew Riley (13.43) and Omar McLeod (13.43) who also advanced along with Americans David Oliver (13.15) and Aries Merritt (13.25) as the top qualifiers.
Eddie Lovett of the US Virgin Islands (13.65) and Ronald Forbes of the Cayman Islands (13.78) failed to qualify while Mikel Thomas of Trinidad and Tobago, who had a powerful start in the first heat, crashed into the first hurdle and did not finish.
In the women’s 800m, there were also no semi-final spots for Jamaicans Simoya Campbell (2:01.43) and Natoya Goule (2:02.37) and Andrea Foster of Guyana
