Wayde van Niekerk broke the 400m World record--straight outta lane eight!--tonight in Rio. The South African native ran 43.03 to surpass Michael Johnson's 43.18 mark set in 1999. This is his second-consecutive global 400m title after winning the world championship in Beijing last summer.

#Athletics WR splits@WaydeDreamer @MJGold
100m 10.7 / 11.10
200m 20.5 / 21.22
300m 31.0 / 31.66
400m 43.03 / 43.18https://t.co/jAvCG38eEr

— PJ Vazel (@pjvazel) August 15, 2016

The 24-year-old Van Niekerk's season progression is impressive, per the website tilastopaja. 
2013: 45.09
2014: 44.38
2015: 43.48
2016: 43.03

2012 Olympic Champion Kirani James and 2008 Olympic Champion LaShawn Merritt claimed silver and bronze, respectively. James ran 43.76, just off his personal best, and Merritt closed in 43.85. It is the first race in Olympic history where three men ran under 44 seconds. 

As for Michael Johnson? He's commentating the track and field program of the Olympics for the BBC.

"Oh my God."

Michael Johnson's reaction to his WR being broken by Wayde van Niekerk, on BBC.

— Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) August 15, 2016

FloTrack caught up with van Niekerk after his won the Monaco Diamond League this July:



Van Niekerk's coach is 74-year-old Anna Botha, who spoke with FloTrack in Boston this summer: