The 24-year-old 400m world record holder dipped under the 10 second barrier for the second time in his career during a meet in Velenje, Slovenia. In doing so, he also clocked a personal best time in the distance.

Van Niekerk won the race in 9.94 seconds on an evening which saw an all-South African podium.

Van Niekerk edged Emile Erasmus (10.12) and Henrico Bruintjies (10.14) as they dominated the rest of the field.

Reynier Mena (10.26) and Roberto Skyers (10.51) claimed 4th and 5th respectively while the two local runners Jan Kramberger (10.76) and Blaž Brulc (10.82) took 6th and 8th.

Van Niekerk is still the only sprinter in history to have run a sub-10 100m, a sub-20 200m and a sub-44 400m.

Earlier this year Van Niekerk broke the South African 200m record in Jamaica to stop the clock at 19.84 seconds. It was, in fact, the second time in less than a week that Van Niekerk recorded that exact time, however, in Boston the race was on a straight street course and it was not registered as a South African record.

Van Niekerk indicated that he will be running the 400m sprint during the Lausanne leg of the Diamond League on 6 July as he starts preparing for his IAAF World Championship title defence in London.

The 2017 IAAF World Championships will be taking place from 5 to 13 August.

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport