Van der Walt emotional after 400m hurdles bronze: 'It's worth all the tears and sweat'

South African athlete Zeney van der Walt was in tears after capturing bronze in the women's 400m hurdles at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

On Saturday, Van der Walt surged through the final 50m to deny Jamaica a full sweep, nearly grabbing silver after dipping her head in third at the finish line.

Running in lane 6, the South African ran a personal best of 54.47 as she pushed through in the final stretch to snatch bronze for South Africa.

Jamaica's Janieve Russel took gold and defended her title in 54.14 and fellow countrywoman Shiann Salmon took silver in 54.47.

"I'm still in shock, there were tears... I don't have words, but it's just so amazing to end my 2022 season on such a high note," said Van der Walt.

"My coach and I have been working hard for this so I'm just really happy... I didn't see the time, so it's even better to know that I ran a personal best and it brought the bronze as well.

"I saw one of the Jamaicans were front and the others were close. I just thought in my head that I was not going to give up and push toward the end, and that brought me the bronze. I'm just so happy."

Van der Walt could not be happier to achieve her personal best in Birmingham and is so proud of her achievement.

"The year started off great, I qualified for my first World Championships. We had some ups and downs as I struggled to break the 55 mark, but we ended on a high note.

"I'm really grateful for my family that's been supporting me and everyone that is standing behind me, my coach and sponsors.

"It's just to enjoy everything because you put so much hard work into it and then it's over under a minute. That emotion and feeling you get when you run over the line it's worth all the tears and sweat that you done to get there. It's motivating to know that I'm in such a big event."