Hezekiel Sepeng, Athletics SA, backs Akani Simbine, local talent to medal at World Athletics Championships
Athletics South Africa's Head of Performance, Hezekiel Sepeng, is optimistic about the nation's chances in the upcoming World Athletics Championships and next Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
The 50-year-old Sepeng, who claimed silver at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in the men's 800m, said ASA was now working better with its athletes and it was beginning to show on the track.
Led by Akani Simbine, the SA men's 4x100m relay team claimed silver at the Paris Olympics last year. That relay team saw the world take notice of the young stars coming up in SA sprinting with Bayanda Walaza, Bradley Nkoana, and Shaun Maswanganyi forming the four-man team.
Walaza (19), Nkoana (20), and Maswanganyi (24) will certainly be around for the next Olympics, and Simbine at 31 is still setting the standards of SA sprinting on the global stage in 2025.
"The athletes are doing very well. If you go back a few years, if you compare it to now, we're sitting with athletes now that are, come 2028, they will be possible medallists. We are one step ahead of the other countries. But it's only a matter of planning because the main goal here is the September World Champs in Tokyo. But overall, the athletes are doing very well, and I think we are in the right space when it comes to the performance of the athletes," Sepeng told SportsBoom.co.za.
"The relationship between the athletes and the federation is in the right space. We listen to the athletes, and they share their goals with us. We needed to blend together. We need to get to that level where we are definitely confident for medals at the World Champs or the Olympics in 2028.'
Simbine has the fastest 100m time in the world this year so far, with his 9.90 seconds he clocked in Gaborone, Botswana, on April 12.
The 31-year-old Simbine is also unbeaten in five races now, following his victory in the Diamond League in Rabat on Sunday.
His time in Rabat of 9.95 was well ahead of Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala (10.05) in second and Fred Kerley (10.07) in third.
Meanwhile, Walaza, having turned 19 in February, and despite his ungainly running style, he just keeps producing faster times.
On Saturday, Walaza clocked 9.94 at the Boris Hankezovic Memorial meeting in Zagreb. It's yet another SA junior record, and he tied the fourth fastest time ever run by a South African.
It's also the third fastest time in the world this year.
Sepeng said the success of the men's relay team has been inspirational.
"If you look at 2016, where we had Caster, Luvo Manyonga and Wayde, they were medallists at the Olympic Games and World Champs. After them, it faded. We introduced the relays because we thought that we could fast-track some of the athletes who cannot make the qualifying standards," said Sepeng.
"We thought, let's put them in the relay, they can still go to World Champs in the relays and that kind of motivated them. I think one of the things that really motivated them was the four-by-one relays at the Olympic Games with the two young stars."
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