Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa sets world record during men's 400-meter Olympic final

Catherine Garcia, The Week US's avatar
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Wayde van Niekerk.
(Image credit: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk set a world record in Rio on Sunday during the men's 400-meter final.

With a time of 43.03 seconds, the 24-year-old runner beat Michael Johnson's world record of 43.18, set in 1999, as well as Johnson's Olympic record of 43.49 seconds. Van Niekerk is the reigning world champion; his previous best time in the 400 was 43.48 seconds. The 2012 Olympic gold medalist, Kirani James of Grenada, came in second on Sunday with a time of 43.76 seconds.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.