After beating South Africa’s 400m world champion Wayde van Niekerk at the World Athletics Continental Tour meeting in Madrid on Saturday, Colombian Anthony Zambrano has his eyes on the big prize at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The 23-year-old, who won silver at the 2010 world champs, says: “It’s an honour for me to beat a legend like Van Niekerk. He has a very strong first 200m, but I was finally able to catch him on the home straight. I would like to make the Olympic final. I’d dedicate that feat to my mum.”
Van Niekerk, who qualified for the Olympic Games with the run, says: “I ran inside the qualifying standard for Tokyo (44.90s), so mission accomplished.
“I’m training well, so I knew what I was capable of. 44.56 in my first 400m race in a long time is OK but I hope to improve in my following competitions.
“I’ll next race in Luzerne [on June 29], but I’m not sure whether it will be over 200m or 400m.”