Photo Credit: Track alerts
Wayde Van Niekerk (South Africa) Age: 25
Days before he finally retired from athletics, Usain Bolt tipped South Africa’s Wayde Van Niekerk, as the man most likely to succeed him as the next king of the tracks. For those who don’t know, 25-year-old Van Niekerk is the reigning 400 m Olympic Champion. His gold medal win at the Rio Olympics set a new world record in the 400 m event.
Following his exploits in Rio, Van Neikerk was projected to earn an impressive $2 million by the end of 2016. He has also signed multimillion endorsement deals with Visa, Adidas and German automaker Audi. Van Niekerk is engaged to long-time girlfriend Chesney Campbell but the pair are yet to sign the dotted lines.
