Matric pupil Udeme Okon ran most his second leg of the men’s 4x400m final at the world championships in Tokyo on Sunday blinded by the heavy rain on his spectacles, admitting he couldn’t see Wayde van Niekerk until just before the handover.
South Africa went on to win bronze behind Botswana and the US to end the country’s eight-year world championship medal drought in pelting rain.
Okon ran the second leg of the relay, taking the baton from Lythe Pillay before passing it on to Van Niekerk. Zakithi Nene closed it out.
Okon’s problems started on the back straight.
“I could not see anything. All I could just see was water on my glasses. I tried to clean, but I was like, ‘you know what, let me just go’,” said Okon, the 2024 under-20 400m world champion.
“All I could hear was just footsteps and I told myself, ‘let me just move, let me just move’.”
Going into the home straight his vision was so bad he was unable to spot Van Niekerk waiting for him in the distance.
“Getting out of the bend still couldn’t see anything and I remember looking and I couldn’t see Wayde.”
Van Niekerk started getting worried. “I was panicking, bro. He was coming towards me and I was like ‘does this guy see me?’ He wasn’t looking anywhere,” the veteran said with a laugh, adding he considered switching his position.
“I was like, ‘if I move to that side, are we going to get disqualified?’”
“I couldn’t see anything,” said Okon. “I saw him at the last stride.”
Van Niekerk explained the relief as he took the baton. “As I got it I looked at him and he smiled and I said ‘OK, we’re safe’ and I just went.”
Okon completed his leg in 45.62 sec, one of the slowest times of the second lap, but Van Niekerk delivered the fastest time of the relay, going 43.27.
Nene was the only other runner on the track to go under 44 seconds, completing the anchor leg in 43.94.
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