![Rio 2016: Wayde van Niekerk just won gold but his track star mother would have never had the same opportunity | The Independent | The Independent Rio 2016: Wayde van Niekerk just won gold but his track star mother would have never had the same opportunity | The Independent | The Independent](https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2016/08/16/10/wayde-van-neikerk-rio-400m-gold.jpg?quality=75&width=982&height=726&auto=webp)
Rio 2016: Wayde van Niekerk just won gold but his track star mother would have never had the same opportunity | The Independent | The Independent
![Rio 2016: Wayde van Niekerk smashes Michael Johnson's 400m world record to clinch gold | Olympics 2016 | Sport | Express.co.uk Rio 2016: Wayde van Niekerk smashes Michael Johnson's 400m world record to clinch gold | Olympics 2016 | Sport | Express.co.uk](https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/83/590x/Wayde-van-Niekerk-699996.jpg)
Rio 2016: Wayde van Niekerk smashes Michael Johnson's 400m world record to clinch gold | Olympics 2016 | Sport | Express.co.uk
![2016 Rio Olympics -- Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa wins men's 400-meter final in world-record 43.03 seconds 2016 Rio Olympics -- Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa wins men's 400-meter final in world-record 43.03 seconds](https://a.espncdn.com/photo/2016/0814/r113877_1296x729_16-9.jpg)