World Record Holder Van Niekerk Hails His Coach, Who Is A Great Grandmother

South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk, who broke the 400m world record at the Rio Olympics, has hailed his coach, Ans Botha, who is his grandmother, as the strength behind his success.

"She’s an amazing woman. She has played a huge role in who I am today and kept me very disciplined and very focused on the role and who I need to be," the 24-year-old runner said of his 74-year-old coach.

"I’m very grateful my coach has pushed me to the limit. Anything is possible. I’m just grateful I can trust in her work."

Van Niekerk clocked a time of 43.03s, beating Michael Johnson's record of 43.18s set in 1999.