Wayde Van Niekerk will be in focus on the fifth day of IAAF World Championships in London as the 400m final will get underway on Tuesday afternoon.
The 25-year-old South African, who is widely regarded as Usain Bolt's successor, will be eyeing to defend his 400m World Championships title in the afternoon session. The world record holder (43.18s) qualified for the final by topping Heat 2 with a timing of 44.22s on Sunday, August 6.
Van Niekerk, the reigning Olympic champion, won his 200m heats after being pushed to the limits by Great Britain's Daniel Talbot in 20.16s only on Monday, August 7. Having qualified for the semi-final in the 200m event, Niekerk is bidding to become the first man since Michael Johnson in 1995 to score a 400m-200m double at World Championships.
Interestingly, Van Niekerk's arch rival Isaac Makwala chose to skip the 200m heats with reported food poisoning. The African record holder has set the fourth fastest time of 43.84s in 2017, which is only 0.22s slower than Van Niekerk's season best timing that he set in Lausanne last month.
Also, in the fray is United States sprinter Fred Kerley, who has set the second fastest time this season (43.70).
Women's 200m also kickstarts today and United States star Torie Bowie who is fresh from her 100m success will be in action.
The 26-year-old, who managed to dramatically dive to Gold, beating Jamaican star Elaine Thompson on Sunday, has the fastest timing of the season in 200m (21.77s).
With Thompson choosing not to race in the 200m, Bowie, the Rio Olympic bronze medallist, will look to send a message to the rest of the pack with a strong show as early as in the heats.
No Indian athlete is in action on Tuesday. Notably, Monday was a disappointing day 400m specialist Nirmala Sheoran, who failed to replicate her heats performance in the semi-final. With a timing of 53.07s, which is well above her season best of 51.28s, she failed to qualify for the final, finishing 22nd out of 24 competitors.
Day 5 - Schedule
Event | Round | Time |
Women's Javelin Throw | Final | 7:20pm local/11:50pm IST |
Women's 200m | Heats | 7:30pm local/12am IST [August 9] |
Men's Pole Vault | Final | 7:35pm local/12:05am IST [August 9] |
Women's 400m Hurdles | Semi-final | 8:35pm local/1:05am IST [August 9] |
Women's Shot Put | Qualification | 8:40pm local/1:10am IST [August 9] |
Men's 3000m Steeplechase | Final | 9:10pm local/1:40am IST [August 9] |
Men's 800m | Final | 9:35pm local/2:05am IST [August 9] |
Men's 400m | Final | 9:52pm local/2:22am IST [August 9] |
Live streaming and TV coverage information
India: TV: Star Sports Select 2/HD 2. Live streaming: Hotstar
UK: TV: BBC. Live streaming: BBC iPlayer
US: TV: NBCSN. Live streaming: NBC Sports Live
Canada: TV: CBC. Live streaming: CBC Player
Rest of Europe: TV: Eurosport. Live streaming: Eurosport Live
Africa: TV: Supersport. Live streaming: Supersport online
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