Cape Town – Look, 2022 hasn’t been the greatest of years for Wayde van Niekerk, but as they say, form is temporary and class is permanent.
And the former Olympic gold medallist showcased all his qualities as he pulled off a sensational victory over Grenada’s fellow ex-Olympic and world champion Kirani James at the Gala dei Castelli meeting in Bellinzona, Switzerland on Monday night.
The 30-year-old missed out on a medal at the world championships in Eugene, Oregon in July, where despite a strong start, he finished fifth in 44.97 seconds.
American Michael Norman claimed the gold medal in 44.29, with James second in 44.48 and Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith third with 44.66.
But Van Niekerk has been making pleasing progress following years of injury issues, and bounced back last week in the 400m pre-programme event at the Zurich Diamond League, winning his race in a season’s best of 44.39.
He was done yet for the year, though, and opted to complete his season in Switzerland on Monday.
And he made it count by running his fastest time since winning the 2017 world title.
Lining up in lane three, Van Niekerk got a nice cheer from the crowd, and he repaid the favour, blasting out of the blocks and eating up the stagger on the rest of the field on his outside.
James, though, stayed in contention as they headed into the final straight, and really put his foot down over the last 50 metres.
But Van Nierkerk displayed true grit in the closing stages and held off his great rival to cross the line first in a new season’s best time of 44.33 – which was also a meeting record and the seventh-quickest in 2022.
Fellow South African Zakithi Nene also went all the way to pip Swiss athlete Ricky Petrucciani (45.76) on the line to grab third in 45.75.
“Turned out to be a good season, now for some good rest,” Van Niekerk posted on his Instagram page on Tuesday.
“Thank you to everyone who kept me going and not allowing me to give up.
“Much love to everyone who kept me positive and (for) your support.”
Nene added in the comments: “Let them know that Big Wayde is Back and he’s here to take over.”
The strong finish to his season will be an ideal foundation for Van Niekerk to challenge for a medal at next year’s world championships in Budapest, Hungary in August.
Meanwhile, South African sprinter Akani Simbine was up against African champion Ferdinand Omanyala in the 100m event, with the field also including the likes of Andre de Grasse of Canada and Ackeem Blake of Jamaica.
But while Omanyala produced his trademark burst out of the blocks, Simbine’s season-long issue with his start was again evident.
He managed to fight back in the second half of the race, but the gap was already too big to make up, and Simbine finished fifth in 10.21.
Omanyala (10.05) was beaten by American Brandon Carnes (10.04), with another US athlete in Kendal Williams third (also 10.05).
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