Page 17 - ARUBA TODAY

A17
SPORTS Wednesday 9 august 2017

BIRTHDAY

BASH

South Africa’s Wayde Van
Niekerk crosses the line to
win the gold medal in the
Men’s 400m final during the
World Athletics Champion-
ships in London Tuesday,
Aug. 8, 2017.
Associated Press

With challenger

not admitted,
Van Niekerk

cruises to victory

By EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer
LONDON (AP) — If it
seemed as though there
were miles between
Wayde van Niekerk and
his closest competition
on Tuesday — well, that
wasn’t so far from the truth.
On a chilly evening in
which the South African
sprinter eased up before
the finish line and still won
his second straight 400-me-
ter world title by .43 sec-
onds, the man who was
expected to give him the
toughest test wasn’t even
allowed in the stadium.
The stomach virus that hit a
number of athletes at the
world championships ear-
lier in the week morphed
into a full-fledged mess a
few hours before the 400
final, when video surfaced
of Isaac Makwala of Bo-
tswana — who has pushed
Van Niekerk in races all Trout picks up 1,000th career hit on his birthday
season — being escorted
away from the athletes’
entrance to the stadium. Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout hits a solo home run during the sixth
inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Monday,
Aug. 7, 2017, in Anaheim, Calif.
Continued on Page 21 Associated Press
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