Van Niekerk defends men s 400m world title (Lead)

London Aug 9 (IANS) South Africa s Wayde Van Niekerk unsurprisingly defended his 400m title at the IAAF World Championships here.

The current world record holder and Olympic gold medalist finished the race with a comfortable 43.98 seconds on Tuesday night reports Xinhua news agency.

"It is amazing to win the world title. I hope the fans enjoyed that " the South African said.

Steven Gardiner of Bahamas finished runner-up at 44.41 while Abdalelah Haroun of Qatar ranked third with seven hundredths of a second adrift.

"The first thing that I wanted to do was to reach the final but then I had to fight for a medal " Haroun pointed out.

"I knew it was a big chance for me and I m very happy to have taken the opportunity."

--IANS
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