The night Wayde van Niekerk broke Michael Johnson's 400m world record at the Rio Olympics

It was a night where even the great Usain Bolt was upstaged as Wayde van Niekerk produced a blistering run from lane eight to break the 400metre world record and win Olympic gold.

American Michael Johnson, whose one-lap record had stood for 17 years, described it as “a massacre” and — with Bolt on the brink of retirement — described the South African as “the next star” of the sport.

Starting in the outside lane, Van Niekerk appeared to have gone out suicidally quickly and, going into the home straight and blowing hard, it only seemed a matter of time before American LaShawn Merritt and Grenada’s Kirani James closed the gap.

But, if anything, he managed to pull even further clear of his pursuers in a running display that bettered Bolt’s third straight Olympic title in the 100m on the same night.

Afterwards, a wide-eyed and slightly disbelieving Van Niekerk said: “I have dreamed of this since I was a kid.

“I believed it was possible. I am just glad things went my way. And I thank Michael Johnson for setting such a great example for us. I just did my best.”

It was singularly the best running performance of the Rio Games as he clocked a time of 43.03 seconds to beat a record that had stood for a staggering 6,198 days.