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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: South African Wayde van Niekerk beats former world champions in 400 meters

South Africa's Wayde Van Niekerk, right, crosses the line to win the gold medal in the men's 400. (Associated Press)
From Staff And Wire Reports

Track and Field: Long after two of the all-time greats at 400 meters had left the track in second and third place, the winner was sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath and getting his pulse checked by a medic.

This is how 23-year-old Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa made a name for himself at the world championships Wednesday night, at Beijing, while also inserting that name on the “People to Watch” list for next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

A muggy evening at the Bird’s Nest started with Usain Bolt laughing as he cruised into the finish of his winning 200-meter semifinal heat to set up another gold-medal showdown with Justin Gatlin. It ended with van Niekerk topping two Olympic and world champions, LaShawn Merritt of the United States and Kirani James of Grenada, before being carted off the track on a stretcher, then loaded into an ambulance.

Van Niekerk was taken to the hospital for precautionary measures, then released later in the evening.

“He told us he was going to make mincemeat out of them,” said the chairman of the South African track team, Pieter Lourens.

Van Niekerk finished in 43.48 seconds, the sixth-best performance of all time. He won by .17 over Merritt, the 29-year-old, two-time world and 2008 Olympic champion, who himself posted a personal best.

On yet another disappointing night for the Americans, second was the best they could manage.

Shamier Little and Cassandra Tate finished 2-3 in the 400-meter hurdles to round out the U.S. haul and bring the total to nine medals over the first five days of the championships.

There’s only one gold in that mix, which leaves the United States a surprising five wins behind the leader, Kenya.

The day actually started off with bad news for Kenya, when a hurdler and a 400-meter runner from the country were suspended for doping. It ended much better thanks to wins by Hyvin Kiyeng Jepkemoi in the women’s steeplechase and Julius Yego in the javelin. Yego’s throw of 92.72 meters was the longest in 14 years and gave the country known for great long-distance running its first victory in a field event at worlds or the Olympics.

Other gold medalists included Cuba’s Yarisley Silva in the pole vault and Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic in the 400 hurdles.

Pennsylvania advances

Little League: Left-hander Adam Cramer struck out 13 in five innings, and undefeated Lewisberry, Pennsylvania – the closest thing to a home team in the Little League World Series – beat Pearland, Texas, 3-0 in the U.S. bracket title game at South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Cramer allowed three hits and got only two outs other than by strikeout – a fly ball and a comeback grounder.

Pearland plays Bonita, California, today for a spot in the U.S. title game against Lewisberry.

Thousands of fans made the two-hour drive from Lewisberry for the game.

Japan beats Venezuela: Japan got down to its final strike before tying it in the bottom of the sixth inning with a single, then rallied again to overcame a two-run deficit in the eighth for a 5-4 victory over Venezuela and a berth in the International bracket title game.

Venezuela will play Mexico today. The winner of that game faces Japan on Saturday for the International championship and a chance to play the U.S. winner a day later for the World Series title.

Rooney leads Man United

Soccer: Wayne Rooney ended a 10-game scoring drought by grabbing a hat trick in Manchester United’s 4-0 win at Bruges, Belgium, that eased the English team into the Champions League group stage.

United won 7-1 on aggregate over Brugge and returned to Europe’s premier competition after a one-year absence.

In other games, Ahmed Musa fired CSKA Moscow into the group stage with a late winner as the Russian team mounted a second-half comeback to beat Sporting Lisbon 3-1 and 4-3 on aggregate. Bayer Leverkusen advanced to the group stage by beating 10-man Lazio. Lazio’s defender Mauricio was sent off in the 68th minute after collecting his second booking within eight minutes.

Australian wins fifth stage

Cycling: Caleb Ewan of Australia charged to the front in the final hundred meters to win the fifth stage of the Spanish Vuelta, while Tom Dumoulin did enough to pass Colombian Esteban Chaves for the overall lead.

Dumoulin gained the leader’s red jersey by finishing just five spots ahead of Chaves as the peloton crossed the line, enough for a one-second lead heading into today’s stage at the three-week Vuelta.