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Van Niekerk breaks world record to win 400m gold

Xinhua, August 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk smashed the world record as he clinched the gold medal in the men's 400m at the Rio Olympics on Sunday.

The 24-year-old finished in 43.03 seconds, beating the previous record held by Michael Johnson of the US by 15 hundredths of a second.

Grenada's Kirani James grabbed silver in 43.76 seconds with the USA's Lashawn Merritt taking bronze in 43.85.

Johnson's mark had been one of the longest standing records in athletics, having stood since August 1999. Endit