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Rio de Janeiro - The world may have been shocked at Wayde van Niekerk's 400m world record on Sunday night (Monday morning, SA time), but Usain Bolt was not.
In one of the highlights of the Games so far, Van Niekerk smashed Michael Johnson's 17-year-old world record with a 43.03 run at the Olympic Stadium.
It sent the spectators delirious, and Van Niekerk went on a lap of honour as the athletics world witnessed history.
The main event of the evening was still to come - Usain Bolt winning the 100m sprint as expected.
A touching moment followed as Bolt, after winning his third straight gold in the event, went over to Van Niekerk - who was still being bombarded by media - and offered his congratulations.
It was a fitting moment between two champions, and Van Niekerk revealed the nature of their conversation afterwards.
"I was over there (Jamaica) for about two weeks training with him," Van Niekerk said.
"He’s been such a huge rock in inspiring me as an athlete.
"He told me back in Jamaica that I would break the world record and he came to me afterwards and said ‘I told you that you can do it’.
"These are guys that inspire me each and every day to be the best Wayde that I can be."
Van Niekerk added that he would love the opportunity to race against Bolt one day.
"My favourite event is the 200m so I would love to race him one day when I’m big," the fastest man ever over 400m said.
Lloyd Burnard is Sport24's correspondent in Rio de Janeiro for the duration of the 2016 Olympics ...
