Athletics: Wayde van Niekerk beaten by Benjamin Richardson in 200m final at the 2024 South Africa Championships
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 (20 April).
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. 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 Niekerk 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.
Pillay sets new 400m mark
In the men’s 400m final, the 21-year-old Lythe Pillay became the second-fastest South African in the event behind van Niekerk. The 2022 world junior champion stormed to victory in the one-lap event in a new personal best of 44.31s, dipping well below the Olympic qualifying time.
Pillay beat two-time national champion Zakithi Nene, who also posted a qualifying time of 44.80s, to the line.
As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
