Cape Town - Olympic 400m gold medallist Wayde van Niekerk is targeting a return to the track by the start of July, according to his coach Ans Botha.
Van Niekerk sustained a knee injury during a celebrity rugby match last October, which forced him out for nine months and saw him miss the recently concluded Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast
The 400m world record holder is set to travel to Qatar this week for an assessment by sports physician Louis Holtzhausen.
"We are flying to Doha to see Dr Louis (Holtzhausen) and the medical team and he will start intensive rehabilitation in two weeks' time," Botha told TimesLIVE.co.za.
"He will come back to continue with the process for six weeks in South Africa and return to Doha for the last time."
Van Niekerk is hoping to return to action in late June or early July, however it remains unclear when exactly he will be back on the track.
Following the retirement of Usain Bolt, Van Niekerk was keen to compete in the 100m and 200m as well as the 400 at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
However, he may now have to manage his workload more carefully.
Van Niekerk, who hails from central South African city Bloemfontein, won gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics in 43.03 seconds, smashing a record set by American Michael Johnson in 1999.
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