Cape Town-born Van Niekerk is the reigning 400m world champion and he broke Michael Johnson's 17-year-old world record to win Olympic Gold in Rio de Janeiro last year.
Wearing a T-shirt that read "This is Paris," Messi beamed and waved at scores of fans who had come to greet him at Le Bourget airport on the outskirts of the French capital after his flight from Barcelona.
Rediff.com has the best sports images from the events in the week gone by snapped right here...
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday.
A baffled Usain Bolt ran his worst turn ever as he barely won the 200 metres at the Adidas Grand Prix meet in a sluggish 20.29 seconds on a warm, windy day at Randall's Island in New York, on Saturday.
Triple jumper Arpinder Singh created history by becoming the first Indian to win a medal in the IAAF Continental Cup as he clinched a bronze but star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra finished sixth with a below-par show, in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on Sunday.
Neeraj is currently ranked fourth in the new rankings of the international federation.
Qatar's Akram Afif has been named Asian Player of the Year at the Asian Football Confederation's annual awards in Hong Kong on Monday, with Saki Kumagai from Japan claiming the women's prize.
Neeraj Chopra will have the weight of expectations on him when he begins his World Athletics Championship campaign on Thursday.
Prominent deep-pocketed investors are lined up to finance Major League Cricket, the world's top players are supposedly ready to sign on and, according to the ICC and USA Cricket research, there is a baked-in fan base of between 15 and 20 million waiting to be served.
Track and field success at the Olympics has largely eluded India
'Didn't realise was flanked by Chinese and Pakistani athletes on victory podium'
Tearful former double sprint world champion Tyson Gay said on Sunday he has tested positive for a substance he could not identify and is pulling out of next month's world championships in Moscow.
Adrian Barath (63) led a stunning power-hitting show as Trinindad & Tobago breezed into the semifinals of the Champions League T20 after beating Diamond Eagles by 24 runs in a high scoring League A match in Hyderabad on Sunday.
'Most of our elite athletes are in national camps so they are safer.' 'They don't have to go out to buy vegetables or groceries; they are not as exposed as we are.' 'Most of them work for government organisations, they get salaries and stipends.'
Rodrigues, Kaur, Mandhana and Sharma were also a part of the now-defunct Kia Super League (KSL) in 2019, the ECB's domestic T20 tournament that made way for the Women's Hundred.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
The autopsy, which was based on blood and urine samples and released by the Buenos Aires Scientific Police, said Maradona had problems with his kidneys, heart and lungs.
The diamond-studded Indian Premier League winner's trophy, encrusted with rubies and yellow and blue sapphires, was unveiled in Mumbai on Monday by IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
The FIFA 2022 World Cup will kick-off in Qatar on Sunday, November 20. Here is a list of the 26-man squads playing in the quadrennial global football extravaganza.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday.
Indian athletes will begin their campaign in the World Championships in Beijing, on Sunday.
Britain's double Olympic champion Mo Farah said on Tuesday he was '100 per cent clean.'
Usain Bolt waltzed in to sprinkle a bucket of stardust over Rio on Monday, and while there were Samba smiles and dancing girls, the biggest name at the Olympics could not escape the ever-present specter of doping.
Hima Das shattered the 400m national record for a second time in two days for a silver while Dutee Chand grabbed the second place in 100m dash on another good day for India's track and field athletes at the Asian Games.
What is it about Arohan that puts it in the top league of microfinance institutions in the country?
Sprint king Usain Bolt aims to crown his legacy with an unprecedented Olympic threepeat at the Rio Games, and to top that off by running the first ever sub-19 seconds 200 meters.
As dry as the martini Bond enjoyed, Connery's 007 was a tour de force of comicbook heroism replete with set pieces and choreographed stunts which he carried off with a Scottish virility, notes Subhash K Jha.
Swansea City are becoming a force in the Premier League after maintaining their unbeaten start with am impressive come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Manchester United, manager Garry Monk said.
'It was probably one of the most difficult decisions to take in my career so far. But I thought that it was time for me to take on a fresh and new challenge'
OGQ has launched a crowd funding campaign to assist training and preparation of their potential medal winning athletes -- Irfan KT (Race Walking), Vikas Gowda (Discus Throw), Ayonika Paul and Pooja Ghatkar (both Rifle Shooting).
Decent bowling, complemented by disciplined batting, scripted Diamond Eagles' five-wicket victory over Somerset, who kissed their semi-final hopes goodbye after losing the League B encounter of the Champions League in Hyderabad on Friday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Frisday.
Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce rallied to claim an unprecedented third world championship 100 metres title in 10.76 seconds at the Bird's Nest stadium on Monday.
By his own charismatic admission, Usain Bolt is a living legend. But if the Jamaican sprint king pulls off only part of his stated goals in Rio de Janeiro, a whole new vocabulary of superlatives will be required. Arguably the greatest sprinter in history, Bolt already owns the world records for the 100 meters and 200m. In London four years ago, he completed an unprecedented "Double Triple" by retaining the 100m, 200m and 4x100m crowns won four years earlier in Beijing.
The world braced up to a post-Bolt era but for India there was no momentous change as the country's athletes did nothing for the global audience to take note of.
With Delhi Daredevils tasting back to back wins of late, the promising young batsman Unmukt Chand feels his side needs to keep the momentum and extend its good run in the remaining matches of the Indian Premier League.
Justin Gatlin skipped along the track during his workout, sunglasses on, seemingly without a care in the world.
Unconquered and amazing Trinidad and Tobago will look to carry on their unbeaten run and seal a semi-final spot when they clash with equally impressive Diamond Eagles in the League A match of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament in Hyderabad on Sunday. Kieron Pollard's exploits with the bat down the order has immensely benefited the Caribbean side in the Twenty20 tournament as twice he played destructive knocks to contribute in his side's impressive run in the event.
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