Wayde van Niekerk and sister set to share Olympic stage at Paris 2024
World 400m record holder and Olympic gold medallist Wayde van Niekerk is excited about going to Paris 2024 with younger sister Kayla Swarts.
Athletics
South African athletics world record holder Wayde van Niekerk is rubbing his hands with glee over the prospect of sharing the Olympic spotlight with his sister in Paris 2024 from 26 July to 11 August.
The one-lap phenom and his younger hockey-playing sibling Kayla Swarts are both set to perform at this year’s global showpiece. Swarts was a member of the Proteas women’s hockey team that qualified for the Games at the African Hockey Road to Paris 2024 tournament in November 2023.
In an interview with former Springbok rugby players Juan de Jongh and Rudy Paige on their Behind the Ruck Podcast, Van Niekerk said sharing the Olympic stage with his sister was a major motivating factor.
“Twenty-twenty-four is a big one for me. My sister and I are actually both going to the Olympic Games this year. I am excited for that moment,” Van Niekerk said.
“It is a good motive for me as well to be in my best shape. I am about to share the Olympic Games with my little sister, and I am excited about that. So, it is about putting in that hard work now and seeing what comes tomorrow.”
Swarts made her senior debut for the South African women’s hockey team in a warm-up match against Italy in Valencia, Spain, in December 2022. The 20-year-old has since represented her country in 13 matches, including the Olympic qualifying tournament in Pretoria. Should she make the final team for the Paris 2024 team, she would fulfil a lifelong dream of sharing the Olympic stage with one of her siblings.
Van Niekerk is set to make his third appearance at the Olympic Games after posting a qualifying time of 44.08 seconds at the Silesia Diamond League meeting in Poland, setting the seventh-fastest time of his career.
The South African has made promising strides towards recapturing the form that saw him win back-to-back world titles and sprint to Olympic glory in a world-record time of 43.03s in Rio 2016.
Van Niekerk reached the finals of the one-lap event at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, finishing fifth and seventh, respectively.