Van Niekerk Runs Fast 100 Meters, Perkovic Rebounds in Discus in Slovenia

By Adam Kopet, DyeStat Editor

South African Wayde Van Niekerk has already made a name for himself as the world's greatest 400-meter runner. He won the Olympic 400 meters from lane eight, smashing the world record in 43.03.

However, Van Niekerk is also the best all-around sprinter. He is the only athlete to have run sub-10 seconds in the 100, sub-20 seconds in the 200 and sub-44 seconds in the 400.

Competing in the International Athletics meeting Tuesday in Velenje, Slovenia, Van Niekerk improved his time in the 100 meters, running 9.94 with a legal wind. He beat fellow South African Emile Erasmus by 0.18 seconds.

"It's my best time and I'm glad the competition ended the way I wanted it to," Van Niekerk told the IAAF. "This also bodes well for my two main distances."

Van Niekerk will be competing in the 200 and 400 meters at the IAAF World Outdoor Championships in London this summer.

Also competing in Velenje was Croatian discus thrower Sandra Perkovic. She has dominated the discus in recent years, including winning at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.

Perkovic won in Velenje with a throw of 228-3 (69.58m) winning by over 10 meters. It was a return to her winning ways after her streak of Diamond League wins (36) was broken Sunday in Stockholm, where she finished second to Yaimi Perez of Cuba.

It was Perkovic's second-best performance of the year behind her 230-5 (70.23m) throw from February. Three of her throws in her series of six surpassed the mark Perez threw in Stockholm. Perez sits #2 on the world list this year with a throw of 222-10 (67.92m).