Wayde van Niekerk collapses after winning gold, taken to hospital
Updated 26/08/2015 at 17:41 GMT
Wayde van Niekerk ran the sixth fastest 400 metres of all time to beat a stellar field and become the first South African to win a world championship sprint title on Wednesday - but his efforts took their toll.
The 23-year-old went hard from the start and held off reigning champion La Shawn Merritt of the United States down the home straight to claim the title in 43.48 seconds.
However, the South African then collapsed on the track exhausted and was taken straight off to hospital for medical treatment, with his "vital signs unstable", the IAAF's medical delegate said, leaving runner-up LaShawn Merritt to hail the quality of the race.
Van Niekerk was discharged just before midnight local time (1600 GMT).
Olympic champion Kirani James of Grenada finished third to claim bronze in 43.78, his best run of the year, ensuring the top three ran under 44 seconds for the first time at a world championships final.
Second-place Merritt pretty aptly summed up the demands of the 400m after the race.
"It's crazy. We're warriors. We're animals. The 400 is never easy. We'll rise to the occasion. I love this. I love this sport," he said.
Van Niekerk holds the South African 200 and 400 metres records but was unable to run in both in Beijing because of the schedule.
With the personal best of 19.94 he ran in the 200 metres earlier this year, he joined Michael Johnson, Merritt and Isaac Makwala as the only athletes to have gone under 20 seconds in the 200 and 44 seconds in the 400.
Only Johnson, who set the world record of 43.18 in 1999, and fellow Americans Butch Reynolds and Jeremy Wariner have gone faster over one lap.
With additional reporting from Reuters
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