Wayde van Niekerk smashed the world record for the men’s 400 metres as he dashed past the finish line way ahead of his competitors to take the gold for South Africa.
And watching this great event was another Olympic champion and world record holder – Usain Bolt.
In fact, his heartfelt reaction to witnessing history being made by van Niekerk is possibly the best video to come out of this year’s Olympics and is bound to give you the feels…
Usain Bolt's reaction to Wayde van Niekerk's WR 43.03 in the 400m final. #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/GJIaMLGzIZ
— Stephen Nelson (@Stephen__Nelson) August 15, 2016
Here’s the man himself congratulating van Niekerk…
It makes us love Bolt even more:
Usain Bolt's reaction to Wayde Van Niekerk's time says it all man
— Boikanyo (Rev Fun) (@ThatoAllDay) August 15, 2016
I love Usain Bolt's reaction to Wayde van Niekerk breaking the record.
— I am Groot (^^,) (@Kari_Fela) August 15, 2016
Usain Bolt reaction to seeing Wayde break the 400m WR is priceless. Becomes even better when he stops interviews to go Congratulate Him
— Ricky (@Rickyboshe) August 15, 2016
The South African athlete managed to beat what many thought was the most unbreakable record in the book – American Michael Johnson’s 17-year-old mark of 43.18 seconds – and did so by a mere 0.15 seconds.
You’d imagine Johnson might be miffed about it, but far from it. Analysing the race for the BBC, Johnson appeared to be equally elated as he watched his record being topped by the 24-year-old.
“Oh my God. From lane eight. World record,” he exclaimed. “He took it out so quick, and I’ve never seen from 200 to 400 anything like that.
“What we will want to see is what his splits were. He could very well have run negative splits, meaning that he ran faster in that second 200 than he ran in the first 200, which would make this even more amazing. Well done to the youngster.”
He even tweeted his congratulations to the fellow runner and thanked his fans for support:
Congratulations @WaydeDreamer to you and your coach! Well done and deserved. Olympic Gold and World record. I know the feeling! #Rio2016
— Michael Johnson (@MJGold) August 15, 2016
Thanks for all the kind words. I'll always have the memory of the accomplishment of breaking it. Like the 200 I think it's in good hands
— Michael Johnson (@MJGold) August 15, 2016
Now this is what you call true sportsmanship.
