Van Niekerk betters own record in 400m

ANOTHER meet, another record. Wayde van Niekerk knocked 14-hundredths of a second off his own national mark as he won the 400m in 44.24sec in New York on Saturday.

The Bloemfontein-based youngst clocked 44.24sec to better the 44.38 he had posted in the same Diamond League meet a year ago.

That makes him No 2 in the world rankings for 2015 so far this year, behind Olympic champion James Kirani of Grenada.

“I just took it step by step today and tried to stay comfortable,” said Van Niekerk, who had shown he was in good form last weekend when he broke the 29-year-old African record for the seldom-run 300m.

Van Niekerk, 22, beat veteran Chris Brown of the Bahamas, a former world indoor champion who has ended fourth at two Olympics as well as two world championships.

American Tony McQuay, runner-up at the world championships in Moscow in 2013, was third in 45.26.

“I am happy with the results and I am looking forward to the rest of Niekerk.

In the 400m hurdles veteran L J van Zyl finished second behind Javier Culson in 48.78, his best time since 2011.

Akani Simbine finished third in the 100m, clocking 10.18 into a stiff headwind. Tyson Gay of the US won in 10.12, ahead of and Jamaican Nesta Carter in 10.15.

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Keston Bledman of Trinidad and Tobago initially finished second in 10.13 but was later disqualified for a false start after running under appeal. Among the big-name sprinters Simbine was beaten by Nickel Ashmeade, another Jamaican.

Orazio Cremona ended secondlast in the shot put, his 19.51m effort falling far short of the 21.67m by American victor Joe Kovacs.