As top athletes are running fast, breaking records, while the throwers and jumpers are going further as we have seen in virtual and spectatorless meets despite lockdown. The World 400m Record Holder, Wayde Van Niekerk, has declared himself 100% back to shape.
Niekerk told the Paris edition of the Diamond League call room in an interview set to air on social media on Saturday, “My body is feeling good.
Niekerk says he is “100% ready” to hit the track again after two years spent on the sidelines with injury.
Van Niekerk said he had learned to differentiate between “bad pain when I am on the brink of injuring myself and pain where I just need a day or two of rest and recovery”.
“I had to listen to my body more and I thank my coaches for listening to me when I am in that situation.”
The Olympic and two-time former world 400m champion damaged knee ligaments in October 2017 while playing in a celebrity touch rugby match that preceded a South Africa-New Zealand Test in Cape Town.
Recalling what he went through when he was injured, “there were days when I couldn’t walk,” he said.
“I have had time to allow my knee to get used to that ‘on your marks’ feeling.”
His recent outings had given him a “massive confidence boost to know that I still have my speed”.
“Now I just need to puzzle everything back together again to run the 400m successfully”, he added.
