Wayde in sizzling form in Bloemfontein

Wayde van Niekerk unleashed the second fastest time this season crossing the line in 44.11 second on the first day of the ASA Open Championships in Bloemfontein.

Wayde van Niekerk unleashed the second fastest time this season crossing the line in 44.11 seconds before collapsing onto the track from sheer exhaustion in his heat on the first day of the ASA Open Championships in Bloemfontein yesterday.

Incredulity was soon replaced by disappointment as the on-field clock initially displayed a time of 43.88 seconds which would have been a world leading time.

It emerged the electronic timing system was not calibrated with the on-field clock which reflected a 0.23 seconds slower than initially thought.

Having made his point with a lightning fast time, and possibly still feeling the effects of his blistering run, Van Niekerk withdrew from the afternoon's semi-finals.

Van Niekerk’s coach Tannie Ans Botha said her charge executed the race exactly as they had planned.

“He is in preparation for the European season, I thought of a low 44 seconds but the conditions are beautiful, nice, and warm without wind,” Du Plessis said.

“At the 300-metre mark he went through in sub-32 which is more or less the times on which we focus.”

Olympic gold medallist Kirani James of Grenada boasts the fastest time so far this season with the 44.08 he clocked a week ago.

Van Niekerk’s personal best of 43.48 to clinch the world title in Beijing last year sparked optimism of Michael Johnson’s world record 43.18 being threatened.

Botha said although the athletics fraternity were talking about the possibility of the record finally tumbling, their focus was on winning a medal at the Rio Games.

“We realise and we know that if we want to medal in Rio, we have to work for the record,” she said.

“There is always something popping up and at this stage it is Wayde’s dream and his goal and we have to focus on that.”

Rising 400m hurdler Lindsay Hanekom smashed his previous personal best time in his specialist event to book his place for the Rio Olympic Games with a time of 49.03 seconds.

Shaving 0.44 seconds off his previous best, Hanekom clocked the third fastest time in the one lap hurdles so far this year.

Hanekom first broke through the 50-second barrier in March setting a personal best 49.90 seconds in Pretoria.

At last weekend’s South African Championships in Polokwane, the 22-year-old missed the qualifying mark by 0.07 seconds when he clocked another PB of 49.47.

Hanekom said booking his place to the global showpiece had not quite sunk in but he believed he could do it.

“I knew I could run the qualifying time, so it was only a matter of time and I just came out today and did my best,” Hanekom said.

“My coach (Nico van Heerden) believed in me more than anyone else.

“I did what he told me believing that I could do it, I ran a new lifetime best, so I am happy. We worked on a few key areas, especially on my hurdle technique, my stride pattern between the hurdles, so that really helped to drop my times,” he said. – Saturday Star