South African sprinter Wayde van Niekerk announced his return to form with a 200m World Athletics Championships qualifying time on Tuesday, 12 August at the Gyulai István Memorial in Budapest.
The 33-year-old, who shocked the world to win 400m gold with a new World Record at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games before suffering a serious knee injury in 2017, clocked 20.07 to seal his best time over the half-lap race for eight years, and second place behind Jamaica’s Bryan Levell.
Van Niekerk’s effort is still outside the 20 fastest times in the world this year, with US sprinter Noah Lyles topping the list on 19.63.
Later at the meet, Van Niekerk’s compatriot Akani Simbine recovered from a slow start in the 100m to share second place with Ghana’s Abdul-Rasheed Saminu, behind Olympic silver medallist Kishane Thompson of Jamaica.
Paris 2024 4x100m relay Olympic silver medallist Simbine turned on the afterburners in the second half of the race to break the tape in 10.01.
The 31-year-old will hope to land his first major individual 100m medal at next month’s World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.