Pillay, the 2022 under-20 400m world champion, had been below his best less than three hours earlier while competing in a failed bid to qualify the mixed 4x400m side, where he had taken the place of Nortje.
But he was sensational in the men’s final, clocking the fastest lap outside of Botswana’s two main stars, going 44.42 to clinch the gong and show a fully fit South African team will be a contender come the Paris Olympics from July 27 to August 11.
This was South Africa’s first World Relays medal since Yokohama 2019, when the men’s 4x200m team took silver.
It was also Van Niekerk’s first international medal since the 2017 world championships in London where he took the 400m gold and 200m silver before injuring his right knee in a game of touch rugby shortly afterwards.
Van Niekerk, who turns 32 shortly before the Paris Games, has been fighting to get back to the sort of form that saw him set the 43.03 world record at Rio 2016.
He was fifth at the 2022 world championships in Eugene and seventh at last year’s edition in Budapest. During 2023 he also ran his fastest 400m time since the injury, 44.08.
Van Niekerk, who has yet to take part in an individual 400m race this year, looked good while running in the heats on Saturday.
Hopefully he gets over the niggle quickly. At the Paris 2024 he will need to run five times if he is to medal in his individual event and the 4x400m relay.
