The Guardian Mocks Attempts To "Anoint" Wayde van Niekerk

It's a dreadful article all-round.

The only thing more joyful than a whinging Brit is a stridently moaning one.

It is a awful article.

Big problem for track and field is it seems the sport only gets publicity for personality and the sport itself is boring....Is thst whst people think?

As WVN is exciting if you like track. He can run sub 44 without really pushing and potentially is sub 43...which is crazy good

he doesnt have it cause

he simply is not tall enough ,

allowed to take serious roids in off season.

should thank god , that allowed to take all the dope he can take

that enabled him to achieve what has in 400m .

will see if bring in testing that matters in his country

or will actually see same approach to testosterone testing and ratio

at these champs in future

Londoner wrote:

Big problem for track and field is it seems the sport only gets publicity for personality and the sport itself is boring....Is thst whst people think?

Unfortunately, this is actually true.

I love track (and, occasionally, field) but objectively the sport is boring as f#%$

The only way for it to consistently excite the casual observer would be to drop the pretence, give everyone free rein on drugs and turn it into WWE-style spectacular of freakish non-humans.

There was a good deal of extra stress for him because of what happened to Makwala and the criticism, which WVN hardly did anything to warrant (he did go train with Bolt last year), that the IAAF was trying to anoint him. Having run 43.03, smashing MJ's record by .15, as well as breaking 10 and running a fantastic 200m for a 400m runner, set him up to be not the transcendent star that Bolt was but the best male athlete. He didn't live up to it quite, but gold and silver and last year's wr and this year's wr at 300(? he got that, right?) make him pretty close. Mocking a man for being emotional right after a defeat is not fair play. Of course, any support of WVN assumes that he is clean despite the enormous, widespread development of Southern African sprinting at a time where their drug lab lost accreditation.

They're not just mocking him for being emotional, many Brits also are averse to people expressing explicit religiosity like he does. They can't do anything about Catholics and Orthodox Christians crossing themselves or Muslims openly praying as they compete, but when it comes out verbally in interviews, you can see the journalists visibly tense up or get uncomfortable.

WvN will be a better athlete running without expectations never invited in the first place. But the media and the IAAF, in their desperation to find someone knew, went ahead of themselves instead of allowing a new star to emerge organically, like Bolt did.

Isn't it funny how the unending British desire to be tolerant has created this intolerance?

Wayde won't the next Bolt or MJ. Not from lack of talent, but from lack of charisma. Even Bolt told him to open up his personality. And part of Bolt's charisma was his confidence. No confident athlete is sobbing after a loss -- they just laugh, and say they'll come back and win it the next time. That's what Bolt would have done in Wayde's place.

WvN is just overall terribly boring. Shows hardly any hapiness when he wins and lack charisma.

Funny watching Usain during his farewell lap and, especially, his interaction with young kids. Somethings just can't be taught or acquired.