South Africa’s Wayde Van Niekerk Sets New Silesia Diamond League Record: Video

• Wayde van Niekerk is putting his injury woes behind him as he focuses on finding his form again
• The world record holder set a new Silesia meeting record as he won his race in just 44.08 seconds
• The South African will look to reach even greater heights in the rest of the Diamond League meets

Wayde van Niekerk is finding his form once again in the 400 metres.

The South African athlete has been plagued by injuries since the 2016 Olympics in Rio but has found his form in the early athletics season as he looks to return to the top of the mountain.

As noted by News24, the world record holder ran a blistering pace in his last outing at the Silesia Diamond League, winning the 400-metre race.

His time of 44.08 seconds was not only the winning time, but it was also a new meeting record.

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For van Niekerk, it was a promising sign that he could continue to get quicker.

"It is my fastest run in seven years, and 44.0 shows that 43 seconds is possible," he said.

Van Niekerk wasn’t the only South African to bag a win at the Diamond League meeting. Akani Simbine stormed to a victory in the 100m event to hand world champion, Fred Kerley, his first loss this season.

What’s next for van Niekerk?

The SA sprinter will be looking to continue his fine form when the Diamond League heads to Monaco on July 21.

There are five other Diamond League meetings this year after Monaco, and van Niekerk will be looking to improve at those as well.

Next Diamond League meetings

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2023 Diamond League Men's standings

* statistics sourced from the Diamond League's official website.

Lyles shows support for Wayde

World 200-metre champion, Noah Lyles, has called out the global governing body for athletics, World Athletics for downplaying van Niekerk's birthday.

The athletics body left a birthday wish for the 400-metre world record-holder, but the American was not impressed with them, as Sports Brief reported.