Paris (AFP)
The South African Wayde van Niekerk (27), 2016 Olympic champion, seriously injured in his right knee since October 2017, finally considers himself "100% ready" to regain his best level.
"My body feels good, I had time to allow my knee to get used to understanding the different levels of pain (between risk of injury or transient pain)", explains the South African in an interview which will be broadcast on Saturday on the Diamond League social networks. "I'm 100% ready," he says.
The South African returned to competition for the first time in two and a half years in February in Bloemfontein, on 100 m (10.10), 200 m (20.31) and a week later on 400 m (47.42) .
"Knowing that I hadn't lost my speed gave me confidence. I knew I had to challenge my body to break down some barriers. Now I just have to put all the pieces of the puzzle together to run back to my best level over 400m. "
Double world champion in lap (2015 and 2017), Wayde Van Niekerk had especially achieved the feat of becoming Olympic champion in Rio in 2016 by establishing a new world record (43 sec 03), announcing himself as the great post-Usain Bolt athletics star. Van Niekerk, who suffered a cruciate ligament rupture of his right knee during a rugby match in October 2017, has not competed in international competition since.
Only positive point of his long absence: "the period (of confinement due to the coronavirus pandemic) was surely easier to live for me than for other athletes, my injury forced me to hibernate as in confinement for two years ! ", he explains.
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