Wayde van Niekerk has run his final race for the 2022 season and done really well; today, he takes a look back at his failures in the hope of inspiring others.
South Africa (16 September 2022) – 2022 was destined to be Wayde van Niekerk’s comeback year, but he faced a few challenges and failures along the way. Not wanting to shy away from these, Wayde was open and honest about everything he has faced this year. The inspiring admissions show so much character from the proudly South African athlete.
He has been undergoing a lengthy recovery and rehabilitation period after he faced an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury five years ago. The injury occurred during a game of celebrity rugby for charity. Not wanting to cause irreparable damage, he took his time through the recovery process to ensure he could return to the sport without concern for the injury. With the pandemic, it meant he had to face even more time away from the track.
This is what made his return so exciting. While his injury may have been nearly five years ago, the pandemic put a hold on his track career and brought with it some tough luck. Seeing him come back to his first race of 2022 in July with a time below 45 seconds was just outstanding!
He showcased his sporting comeback at the American Track League meet in Atlanta, Georgia. He ran a time of 44.58. He then set his sights on the various sporting events of the season, including the World Athletics Championship in Oregon. He didn’t qualify for Team South Africa at the Commonwealth Games due to not having raced during the first half of 2022. Wayde had taken great care to ease back into his racing year.
He is celebrating a good comeback year and has achieved some great times. Wayde is now focusing on rest and family.
4⃣4⃣.3⃣3⃣
A stunning end to the year for Olympic 2016 400m champion and world record-holder @WaydeDreamer who runs 44.33 over one lap 💥🇿🇦
It’s the fastest time he’s clocked since winning gold at the 2017 World Championships in London. pic.twitter.com/4STlb4XEGI
— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) September 12, 2022
As he is now on a well-earned break, Wayde took some time to share about the year he has had. The message he shared was done so to inspire others who may have been knocked down and are ready to get back up.
This season I allowed you to see me fail and shared every emotion I could to be a sign of hope that when you’re down you don’t have to stay down!!!
Always believe in yourself, that’s the first person that should matter. pic.twitter.com/gVAbQZ5PaO
— Wayde van Niekerk (@WaydeDreamer) September 14, 2022
by 