12 August, 2017
South Africa sprinter Wayde van Niekerk dismissed suggestions the controversy around rival Isaac Makwala affected him after missing out on the 200 metres title at the World Championships.
South African Van Niekerk, who took the 400m title on Tuesday, had been seeking to match American Michael Johnson's achievement of doing the 200/400m double at the Gothenburg worlds in 1995, but had to settle for silver in 20.11 seconds.
Having got out of the blocks sharply, Makwala came out of the bend with a realistic chance of a medal but faded to finish sixth.
"I have shown my best throughout this competition".
Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago was given the same time but was relegated to third by one thousandth of a second.
Bolt had tipped the South African could take over his mantle as the star of world athletics, and van Niekerk had completed the first half of the equation by winning the 400m final.
Van Niekerk, who broke down in tears during a post-race interview with the BBC, was unhappy with Makwala but insisted it did not upset his preparations.
"When I got into the race I was feeling good, but the last 50 metres I was feeling exhausted, the lactic acid came". I'm so happy to be world champion. I have proven over and over I deserve what I have achieved.
"This is the best moment of my career". I don't think I will ever face this again.
"I have the utmost respect for Usain and he is the one I have been watching over the last few years.
I think it's great for my career", the 400-meter Olympic and world champion said.
"I work just as hard as every other competitor".
Claye then retook the lead in the third round with 17.65, only for Taylor to better it by three centimetres with the very next jump.
Taylor's best mark of 17.68 metrers was enough to edge out Claye, who could only manage 17.63m.
But Dina Asher-Smith is into Friday's 200m final after running a season's best of 22.73 to finish second behind Ivorian Marie-Josee Ta Lou in her semi-final, Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands and Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo looking unsafe as they dominated their semis. I have got to know him quite well and I thank him for what he has done for the sport.
Guliyev, who became a Turkish citizen in 2011 and was cleared to represent his new country in 2013, did fire out a warning in the semi-finals when he won his heat ahead of Webb and Van Niekerk and, though he slipped into the final pretty much under the radar, he had been confident all along.
"I was competing against some of the best athletes in the world, so it didn't bother me that the attention was on them".
He was beaten by Turkey's Ramil Guliyev but was angered by Botswana's Makwala, who claimed he was sabotaged following his controversial build-up to the race.
