New 400m star Pillay aims to go even faster

• Published date: 25 April 2024
• Publication title: Herald, The (Port Elizabeth, South Africa)

The team will try to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics early next month, with nations competing for at least 14 Games spots across the 4x400m and 4x100m events at World Relays in Bahamas

Pillay ran 44.31 sec to win the 400m at the national championships in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday, becoming the second-fastest South African in the one-lap behind legendary countryman Van Niekerk, owner of the 43.03 world record.

Zakithi Nene was second in 44.80 and Gardeo Isaacs third in 45.33.

“All of us have bought into the relay,” 21-year-old Pillay, the 2022 U20 world champion, said.

“Already since last year, since champs, Wayde himself has pretty much been the most enthusiastic about the relays.

“For us, having someone like Wayde on our team, being enthusiastic, being optimistic, encouraging us to come together sort of adds a sense of hype to [it].

“As much as when we come here and we compete against each other, we know that if we combine our efforts we’ll be a force to reckon with against other countries.

“When it comes to the relay potential, we are 100% supporting, we are 100% enthusiastic, and we’re looking to show the world what we can do together.”

These guys have serious potential. If one adds the personal bests of Pillay, Nene and Isaacs to Van Niekerk’s best time from last year, 44.08, they total 2:58.28, almost a full second quicker than the 2:59.21 South African record from 2011.

That would have been good enough for fifth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — and bear in mind it doesn’t factor in quicker times for flying starts nor the adrenaline and determination of the runners in the heat of battle.

Pillay is now third on the world list for 2024 so far, and while he wasn’t expecting to run the time he did, he’s already talking about going faster.

“I pretty much forgot about any concept of time when the race started.

“I was just going in there, executing the race, staying in control of my own race and then when I got to the end it was a lucky pack...