How to watch Wayde van Niekerk live in the 400m at World Athletics Championships 2023: Full schedule
Wayde van Niekerk is back and ready to go at full tilt as he seeks a third title at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest taking place from 19 to 27 August.
Athletics
Wayde van Niekerk is back and ready to go at full tilt at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest taking place from 19 to 27 August.
The South African Olympic champion’s form over the last two seasons has been on an upward trajectory after reaching last year’s World Championships final in Eugene, Oregon where he finished in a creditable fifth place. The two-time world champion from 2015 and 2017 holds himself to a higher standard and will be looking to get back onto the podium.
The 400m world record holder will fancy his chances of reclaiming his world title from 2017 after making promising strides this season. Van Niekerk ranks among the top one-lap sprinters in 2023 as he goes into the World Championships with an unbeaten record in 2023. He has topped the podium in five races this season including three Diamond League meeting victories in Oslo, Silesia, and London.
The Rio 2016 Olympic champion demonstrated that he can both dominate and grind out a victory when it is required of him. In London, he beat off a late challenge by American pair Bryce Deadmon and Vernon Norwood.
He is also inching closer to his first sub-44 seconds time since 2017 posting the seventh-fastest time of his career of 44.08s at the Silesia Diamond League meeting in Poland.
The time ranks him the fourth-fastest man over one lap this season with reigning Olympic champion Steven Gardiner (43.74), rising Zambian star Muzala Samukonga (43.91) and Jamaica's Rusheen McDonald (44.03) going faster.
Reigning Olympic champion Gardiner is likely to be the biggest threat to van Niekerk’s bid to win his third world championship title. Gardiner's world lead of 43.74s was the Bahamian’s career second-fastest, signalling his return to form after he was unable to defend his world title in 2022 due to injury.
Defending world champion Michael Norman of the United States has pulled out of Budapest 2023.
How to watch Wayde van Niekerk at the World Athletics Championships 2023
In South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, all the sessions will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
Schedule for the men’s 400m at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, Budapest
Below is the schedule for the men’s 400m races at the 2023 World Track and Field Championships. All times local to the event.
Sunday, 20 August
10:25 - Heats
Tuesday, 22 August
21:00 - Semi-finals
Thursday, 24 August
21:35 - Final