Wayde van Niekerk breaks World Record on way to Olympic gold

I woke up this morning at 2:50 to watch Wayde van Niekerk destroy the 400m world record. Destroy is probably not the best choice of words. It is not in Wayde's nature to destroy anything. He is a gentle soul that works very hard. I did, however, woke up all the dogs in the neighbourhood and destroy my upper thigh while watching that last 120m of the most excellently executed 400m.
If Wayde reacted as fast as Kirani James to the gun he may have been the first human to run below 43seconds for 400m.

I am glad/proud to say I told you so:

I believe the one individual world record in real danger of being broken is 400m and @WaydeDreamer can do it.

— Corneil du Plessis (@corneil) August 13, 2016

Wayde van Niekerk dips below 44 seconds in 400m

This is fantastic! To anyone asking where did this come from now? This is no fluke, Wayde has been making steady progress the last few years in one the most difficult events in athletics. Difficult you say? Yes, ask anybody who has ever prepared for and competed in 400m at the highest levels. Your performance is determined by your ability to convert all your available energy into as much speed as possible for 400m.
If you misjudge this you hit the wall. You would have seen athletics look like someone is adding bricks to a hidden back pack and they become unable to lift their legs as high or as fast. Their stride length shorten and every one else suddenly looks faster. If they are still running 10m after the finish line they could have completed in a faster time. With the perfect 400m race you should feel beautiful for 200m and are usually unaware of the first half of the race. Then you start feeling nausea at around 250-300m but you relax while maintain form and speed until 1 step after the finish line.

Most 400m hurdlers would rather jump over a hurdle 10 times than running 400m without the hurdles. Most 800m runners would rather do 2 laps than 1.

Read more here http://www.iaaf.org/news/report/van-niekerk-paris

Remarkable Juniors - Kirani James

Kirani James is one the most natural 400m runners I have ever seen.

Anyone who has competed in the 400m will tell you it is one of the events that hurts the most. When your body starts producing lactic acid it really hurts. After a well run 400m you want to be placed in a nice hot jacuzzi or you want the power to levitate.
When an athlete runs the 800m or longer distance their body uses mostly oxygen from the bloodstream as a source of energy, when you run a 400m there is not enough time to convert oxygen into energy because it does not occur quick enough, instead the energy is extracted from glucogen and the side effect is the production of lactic acid.
The stiffness you feel the morning after exercise is the effects of lactic acid.
If a huge amount of lactic acid enter your system in a matter of a minute it hurts.
Your ability to run is impaired, some people look like they are trying to run on one spot or even backwards.

Kirani James seems to be immune to the effects of lactic acid. He runs with a smooth fluid style.He ran 46.96 as a 15 year old. He won the World Youth Championship[s in 2009 running 45.24, He won the World Junior Championships in 2010 with 45.89 and the senior World Championships in Daegu in 2011 with 44.60.
He just won the London Olympics in 43.94, at 1.80 and 66kg he does not seem to be carrying any extra baggage around the track.
Most athletes produce their best performances after they turn 24. Kirani James seem destined to defend his Olympic title in 2016 and his World Championship titles in between!