Olympic Track and Field 2016: Men's 400M Medal Winners, Times and Results

Wayde van Niekerk made it look easy Sunday night in the men's 400 meters at the 2016 Olympics.

The 24-year-old captured the gold in stunning fashion finishing in a world-record 43.03 seconds, blowing away second-place finisher Kirani James and third-place LaShawn Merritt:

Pos.	Runner	Country	Time
1	Wayde van Niekerk	South Africa	43.03
2	Kirani James	Grenada	43.76
3	LaShawn Merritt	United States	43.85
4	Machel Cedenio	Trinidad and Tobago	44.01
5	Karabo Sibanda	Botswana	44.25
6	Ali Khamis	Bahrain	44.36
7	Bralon Taplin	Grenada	44.45
8	Matthew Hudson-Smith	Great Britain	44.61

Van Niekerk is the first South African to win a gold medal in track since 1928, per ESPN Stats & Info. Sportswriter Jessica Luther succinctly summed up what made his victory all the more stunning:

"

Van Niekerk just set the WR in the 400!!!! His mom couldn't run under apartheid. 1st to win gold from lane 8. A 74yo woman coaches him.

— Jessica Luther (@scATX) August 15, 2016"

NBC Olympics shared the reaction of Van Niekerk's coach, a 74-year-old great-grandmother, Anna Botha:

NBC Sports' Nick Zaccardi provided comments from former world-record holder Michael Johnson, who's working as an analyst for the BBC:

Van Niekerk set a blistering pace to begin the race, and even though he entered the Olympics as the reigning world champion in the 400 meters, many likely questioned whether he'd have enough to finish the race. He continued to enjoy a healthy gap over James and Merritt.

Coming around the final turn, James and Merritt looked to be closing in on first place, but then Van Niekerk turned on the jets and surged even farther ahead of the rest of the field. NBC Sports uploaded a replay of the finish of the race.

TrackTown USA spoke for racing fans everywhere:

Getty Images Sport tweeted out a shot from photographer Richard Heathcote of Van Niekerk crossing the finish line:

After Van Niekerk's incredible performance, the question now becomes whether he can break 43 seconds. FiveThirtyEight's Benjamin Morris noted Van Niekerk had the third-slowest time off the blocks, and had he been slightly quicker, a sub-43-second dash would have been attainable.

A lot of fans will now be looking ahead to see what Van Niekerk has as a follow-up at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London next August.

Post-Race Reaction

"I believed I could get the world record," Van Niekerk said, per Omnisport (via Yahoo Sports). "I've dreamed of this medal since forever. I am blessed."

James was satisfied to have witnessed such a great run by his competitor: "I'm happy to be part of a race that made history. We have put this sport on a pedestal."