Having overcome his latest setback, 400m world record holder Wayde van Niekerk says he is excited and ready to make his long-awaited return to international action when he lines up over his specialist distance at a track meeting in Bellinzona on Tuesday night.
Van Niekerk’s management team confirmed on Monday that he would turn out in the one-lap race at the European Tour Bronze Label meeting.
It was set to be his first overseas race in more than three years, with the 28-year-old sprinter having been sidelined by a serious knee injury shortly after securing 400m gold and 200m silver at the 2017 World Championships in London.
“My body is in good health, which I’m grateful for, and I’m looking forward to racing again,” said Van Niekerk, who was expected to defend his Olympic title in Tokyo next year after setting a world best of 43.03 to win the one-lap title at the Rio 2016 Games.
“We don’t have any goals for the meeting. I’m just excited to see how my body feels again in a race situation, and it will be nice to loosen up the legs.”
Having clocked quick times of 10.10 (100m) and 20.13 (200m) on the domestic circuit earlier this year, Van Niekerk had been expected to make his international comeback at a meeting in Trieste last month, but he was withdrawn at the last minute after testing positive for Covid-19.
Despite being asymptomatic, he was forced into self-isolation for 25 days, before returning to full training late last month.
The setback meant he would compete in only one race before returning home from his European camp later this week, but Van Niekerk was hoping the one-off performance would be enough for him to gauge his progress in the build-up to the 2021 season, following a patchy 2020 campaign which was largely disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
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