The City of Cape Town has proposed that its Green Point Athletics Stadium be named after Wayde van Niekerk, who broke the world 400m record to claim a gold medal for South Africa at the Rio 2016 summer Olympic Games.
Van Niekerk’s time of 43.03 seconds broke Michael Johnson’s 43.18-second record, which had stood for 17 years. The Mayor of Cape Town, Patricia de Lille, said that renaming the stadium would be a fitting tribute to the 24-year-old, who was born in the city.
In a speech at an event to honour South Africa’s Olympians and Paralympians, De Lille added that the city had received the proposal from Premier Helen Zille.
A public participation process will now follow, which De Lille said would likely take place from mid-November. A multi-party naming committee will then discuss the results and make a recommendation to De Lille.
“I will then make a recommendation to full council where all councillors will be given the opportunity to vote,” De Lille said. “If the majority of councillors are in agreement, they will vote to pass the renaming.
“Therefore by February, this could very well be the Wayde van Niekerk Athletics Track.
“My hope is that when young and old drive past, attend events, or even participate on the track, they will be able to look at this stadium and be reminded of Wayde’s success. May this track then stand as a monument of all that is indeed achievable.”
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