Dambile, van Niekerk through to World Champs semis

South African 200m champion, Sinesipho Dambile and former world champion Wayde van Niekerk, have both advanced to the semifinals of the 200m event at the World Championships in Tokyo.

Both athletes secured automatic qualification on Wednesday, by finishing in the top three of their respective heats. Dambile placed third in his heat with a time of 20.27 seconds, just behind second-placed Nigerian Udodi Chudi Onwuzurike.

Van Niekerk, who won silver in the 200m at the 2017 World Championships, finished second in 20.19 seconds.

“Today was a positive one, so regroup and get ready for tomorrow,” Van Niekerk told Modern Athlete magazine. “It was comfortable. I think there was a lot of rust that needed to come off today as well.”

Olympic champion, Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, won his heat comfortably in 20.18 seconds.

In Thursday’s semifinals, Van Niekerk will compete against strong contenders including Kenny Bednarek, Ogando, and Zimbabwe’s Makanakaishe Charamba, who clocked 20.06 seconds in his heat (race at 2:02pm).

Dambile will face top competitors Noah Lyles and Makarawu in his semifinal, scheduled for 2:16pm.

Alexander Ogando 🇩🇴 won the first heat of the men’s 200m at the World Championships in a time of 20.10s.

Wayde van Niekerk 🇿🇦 was 2nd in 20.19s, followed by Timothe Mumenthaler 🇨🇭 in 20.39s. pic.twitter.com/oLQyEtqlTa

— Track & Field Gazette (@TrackGazette) September 17, 2025

Written by: Ntsako Mukhari