caption event birth_place imagesize nationality sport birth_date image article_title name
wayde van niekerk in 2015 sprinting cape town , south africa 250px south african track and field 15 august 1992 wayde van niekerk beijing 2015.jpg wayde van niekerk
 wayde van niekerk
wayde van niekerk

wayde van niekerk -lrb- born 15 july 1992 -rrb- is a south african track and field sprinter who competes in the 200 metres and 400 metres .
he holds personal bests of 19.94 seconds and 43.48 seconds for the distances , respectively .
he has held south african records for both but currently he only holds the record for the 400m event .
he is the first athlete from africa to run the 400m in under 44 seconds .
van niekerk was the silver medallist in the 400 m at the 2014 commonwealth games and took bronze in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2013 summer universiade .
he also represented south africa at the 2013 and 2015 world championships in athletics .
at the latter event he took the gold medal in the 400 and is the reigning world champion .
