Publications
Partners
Rio de Janeiro - The partnership between newly crowned 400m Olympic champion Wayde van Niekerk and his 74-year-old coach Ans Botha looks like it will continue after Rio 2016.
Van Niekerk set the Games alight on Sunday night (Monday morning, SA time) when he smashed Michael Johnson's 17-year-old world record to run 43.03 in the 400m final.
It is already being called the race of the Olympics this year, despite Usain Bolt winning the 100m sprint just half an hour later.
Botha - 50 years Van Niekerk's senior - became an overnight sensation.
And she is not going anywhere just yet.
"I cannot see the reason why I have to do that," she said on the prospect of retiring.
"I’m blessed at this stage with health and I still love my coaching and my athletes.
"I can’t see a reason why I would go and sit at home and play with my fingers … that’s not me."
Van Niekerk was on board too.
"She's my coach and I've been with her for the last three or four years now," Van Niekerk said.
"Our achievement as a team has spoken for itself and I'm grateful for her in my life.
"You don't change a winning team so I definitely expect way more and way more achievements.
"She's got so much more to learn as a coach and me as an athlete, so hopefully we can take over with more than just one win."
Lloyd Burnard is Sport24's correspondent in Rio de Janeiro for the duration of the 2016 Olympics ...
