The Bloemfontein sprint sensation broke Michael Johnson’s 19-year-old 400m world record last year at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro to set the benchmark at 43.03 seconds.

The sprinter, who has won just about everything in the discipline hinted at shifting his focus to the shorter sprints, which by his own admission he loves.

Van Niekerk, who is the only person in the world to have run a sub 10 second 100m, a sub 20 second 200m, and a sub 44 second 400m, said he wants to master all the disciplines, but his mind isn’t made up yet.

“It’s no secret that I really love doing the 100 and 200m,” said the sprinter.

“I think it all depends on how the times work out, I would love to run competitive times before I make the decision to compete in major competitions.

“There is no point ignoring the fact that I have run world-class 400m times and then neglecting the event.

“I’m going to try and master each and every event and let’s see how the times work out and then start deciding.

“I’m really sitting on the edge with what I want to do in the future.”

On Tuesday night the Formula 1 world champion, Nico Rosberg, beat Van Niekerk to the Laureus World Sports Breakthrough of the Year Award.

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport