Bruised knee delays Niekerk’s comeback

PARIS: South Africa’s Olympic 400m champion Wayde van Niekerk is to miss this month’s Diamond League meets in Monaco and London after suffering a knee injury in training. Van Niekerk, who is the two-time defending world champion and also world record holder in the one-lap discipline, has been out injured since October 2017. This season he has run a 400m at a provincial championships in Bloemfontein, but has not yet competed on the international stage, with the world athletics championships set for Doha between September 27-October 6. The South African, who was slated to race in Monaco on July 12 and London on July 20/21, underwent a scan which showed that the ligaments and meniscus of his right knee were unaffected but there was a bone bruise which has set him back five to six weeks, according to his management team.