Wayde van Niekerk is a South African track and field sprinter and the current world and Olympic record holder for the 400 metres. At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Van Niekerk won 400m gold with a new world record time of 43.03 seconds, beating the previous record set by Michael Johnson in 1999. He represented South Africa at the 2013, 2015 and 2017 World Athletics Championships. Van Niekerk won 400m gold in 2015 and then defended his title two years later in London, where he also won a 200m silver medal. In 2000, Van Niekerk became the only sprinter in history to have run sub-10, sub-20, sub-31 and sub-44 performances at 100m, 200m, 300m and 400m respectively.