400m Olympic Record

Wayde van Niekerk's blistering 43.03 seconds at Rio 2016/Sports

Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa set the 400m world and Olympic record at the 2016 Rio Games with a time of 43.03 seconds, running from the outside lane 8 where he could not even see his competitors. His average speed across the full lap was about 9.3 m/s, which is a pace that most humans cannot sustain for even 50 meters. He was coached by a 74-year-old great-grandmother, Ans Botha, which makes the whole story even better.