Breaking world records: Wayde van Niekerk breaks the internet

Wayde van Niekerk on Monday became the top trending search worldwide after setting a world record.

South Africa's 400m Olympic gold medallist Wayde van Niekerk points to his new world record displayed on a board after the Men's 400m Final at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 14, 2016. Picture: AFP.

Refilwe Pitjeng | 2142 days ago

JOHANNESBURG - Wayde van Niekerk on Monday became the top trending search, worldwide, after setting a world record in the men's 400m at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Wayde van Niekerk becomes the top trending search worldwide after setting a #WorldRecord in the men’s 400m #Olympics pic.twitter.com/vbq6jbvKkQ
— Google (@google) August 15, 2016

Van Niekerk won Team South Africa's first gold medal.

South Africans couldn't get help but share their happiness and sense of patriotism at the athlete's achievement and there have since been around 200,000 searches for him.

On Monday at 3am, the search for van Niekerk content had reached its peak.

The top three provinces in the country, who did a search on his name, are Western Cape, Free State and the Northern Cape.