Wayde van Niekerk was pipped to the line by rising star Benjamin Richardson in the men's 200m final at the Athletics South Africa Senior Track and Field Championships in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday.
The 20-year-old Richardson, a multiple world junior championship medallist, had the edge coming out of the bend with Van Niekerk trailing him on the outside.
20-year-old Benjamin Richardson makes a stunning entry into the Olympics, clinching gold in the Men's 200m Final 🥇#ASASeniorChamps | #JoinTheMovement pic.twitter.com/yxndhwt18r
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) April 20, 2024
Van Niekerk looked like he would reel in the towering youngster, but Richardson prevailed with a winning time of 20.16 seconds, meeting the Olympic qualifying mark in the process.
Van Niekerk crossed the line in second place in a time of 20.31s with 2022 national champion Sinesipho Dambile following in third place in 20.37s.
Van Nieker misses ninth national title
The 400m world record-holder opened his season at the national championships in his preferred 200m event instead of the 400m which brought him fame and fortune.
The 31-year-old Van Niekerk had already qualified in the one-lap event for Paris 2024 where he will be looking to reclaim the crown he conceded at Tokyo 2020 (in 2021).
Van Niekerk has made some steady progress since a serious knee injury in 2017 derailed him at the height of his career in a year in which he successfully defended his 400m world crown.
Benjamin ultimately denied Van Niekerk his fourth South African title in the 200m and ninth overall. Van Niekerk won his first national crown in 2011 when he was just 18 years old.
The year before he made his international debut at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Canada, where he finished fourth in the 200m.