TRACK & FIELD
The Inspiring Story of Lane 8
On August 14 , 2016 , things didn ’ t seem to be going right for Wayde van Niekerk . In spite of two strong runs in the qualifying heats of the Olympic 400 metres in Rio , his final finishing time in the heats would see him placed in lane 8 of the final – the very outside lane of the track . To most observers , this spelt the end of Wayde ’ s bid for Olympic glory .
No Olympic competitor had ever won from this position , and with the fastest Olympic time ever posted in lane 8 sitting at 44.66 seconds , achieved by Grenadian sprinter Alleyne Francique in 2004 , no fan of athletics would really expect the outer lane runner to win .
The challenges of racing from this position are difficult to overstate . Staggered well ahead of the rest of their competitors , an athlete in lane 8 has no one to chase , and no-one to follow . Running in lane 8 demands 300 metres of intensely anaerobic , high-speed sprinting with little to no insight on how your performance compares to those around you . You have to give your all , without knowing if your all is good enough . It ’ s a lonely run . A run that tests your inner resolve , your reserves of physical and mental stamina , and of course , your courage .
To win from this position , an athlete has to run a perfectly paced race , with nothing to guide them but their own rhythm and sense of how best to navigate the distance . It ’ s for this reason that Wayde ’ s historic 2016 run is often referred to as the lonely sprint .
Overcoming Inner Doubt
Wayde had been plagued with pain and doubt in his run-up to that 2016 Olympic final . He ’ d spent the night before the final contest in tears , because his old hamstring and back injuries had flared up painfully around the 200-metre mark of both his qualifying heats . He was being touted as the flag-bearer for South Africa ’ s Olympic hopes and dreams , but he ’ d become convinced that he was going to disappoint .
But still he ran . He pushed through his fear . He silenced the voices of doubt , the voices that said , “ You can ’ t from here .” In spite of everything those voices said , Wayde ran . From the difficult position of lane 8 , he delivered 163 of the perfectly engineered and powerful steps a human has ever accomplished . He trusted in his preparations . He believed in himself .
He believed that he belonged in that moment , and that he could do what no-one before him had done . He believed that it was still his race to run .
So he ran , and with that unwavering belief , he not only won in 43.03 , but shattered Michael Johnson ’ s 17-year-old World Record , shaving 15 hundredths of a second from the long-standing 43.18 mark , and came tantalisingly close to breaking the 43 second barrier that had eluded athletes for so long .
Inspiring a Nation
After that epic night in Rio , Wayde went on to win the 2017 World Championship 400m title in London , his second 400m World Title after winning a first in 2015 in Beijing . In London he also claimed a silver medal in the 200m final . He also went on to set yet another first , becoming the first athlete in history to run the 100 metres in less than 10 seconds , the 200 metres in under 20 seconds and 400 metres in under 44 seconds .
Unsurprisingly , Wayde is acknowledged as one of the most inspirational South Africans of his generation , and there is a lesson for every athlete in his story : When your next lonely run lies before you and the odds seem stacked against you , remember Wayde and his lane 8 run . No matter how difficult your starting point may seem , you can still achieve an extraordinary result . Because it ’ s in these moments of extraordinary challenge that deep passions are ignited , and the choices that we make allow us to redefine our boundaries .
Remember that like Wayde , your character can guide you through the moments where great uncertainty and great obstacles confront great ambition . It can allow you to sense the way forward , not as some distant goal , but as a horizon that ’ s visible , because ultimately , the story of your own lane 8 does not have to be a story of disadvantage , setback and challenges . No matter how long or hard the journey may seem , it can be a story of courage , hope and triumph . This is the lesson of Wayde van Niekerk . This is the inspiring story of # Lane8 .
Images : Courtesy Audi South Africa & Wayde van Niekerk
42 ISSUE 134 OCTOBER 2020 / www . modernathlete . co . za