Wayde van Niekerk reassures fans that Boston injury scare is "nothing serious"

Olympic athletics champion and 400m world record holder Wayde van Niekerk, who appeared to sustain an injury on Sunday (23 May) at the Boston Boost Games Continental Tour Gold meet, says he is "well" and has not suffered a serious injury.

The South African was racing in his first major international meet against elite competition since picking up a career-threatening knee injury playing touch rugby in 2017, but pulled up in the 200m final in Boston on the finishing straight.

Van Niekerk's appearance in Boston was his first since splitting from long-term coach Ans Botha earlier this year and linking up with his new coach, Lance Brauman.

He limped across the line in fourth in 20.86 seconds, but later wrote on Twitter that he was fine.

However, this is the latest scare for van Niekerk, who is still yet to meet the qualifying mark for the Tokyo Olympics in either the 200m (20.24s) or 400m (44.90s).

Now based in Florida, van Niekerk trains alongside American 200m world champion Noah Lyles and Bahamian 400m Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo.

After he left Botha's camp, van Niekerk had been training in South Africa and competed in the national championships in April while he waited for his U.S. visa approval, winning the 200m. However, the delay in paperwork with his visa meant he did not compete at the World Athletics Relays in Poland.

Writing on social media in February, van Niekerk explained his reasons for leaving Botha, who he had trained under nearly his entire career:

"As much as I have enjoyed my experience with Tannie Ans and her group‚ I am hoping to break my world record and to do that I need to ensure I am training alongside the world’s best sprinters.

"I feel a temporary move to the US will be in my best interests for the immediate future. I look forward to working with my new coach and training partners‚ and I hope to continue carrying the SA flag with pride at international level."