South African sprinter Simbine shrugs off 'nearly man' tag
South Africa's Akani Simbine has narrowly missed out on medals at a series of major championships (ADEK BERRY)
In-form South African sprinter Akani Simbine insists he is no "nearly man" despite missing a podium finish in the men's 100m at the last three Olympics by a combined total of just eight-hundredths of second.
The 31-year-old finished fifth at the 2016 Rio Olympics before successive fourth places at the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Games.
While he was three-hundredths of a second off the pace in Rio and four-hundredths away in Tokyo, he missed out on an individual Olympic medal in the French capital to Fred Kerley by just one-hundredth of a second.
His participation at the world championships have seen him place fifth (2017), fourth (2019) and fifth (2022) in the 100m.
Simbine did eventually bag a global medal by anchoring South Africa to Olympic silver in the 4x100m relay in Paris.
He followed that up with world indoor bronze over 60m in Nanjing in March, a result that fired his season off and since then he has lined up three wins over 100m, including at the two opening Diamond League meets in China.
"People say that I'm the nearly man, I don't see it like that," Simbine told reporters ahead of this weekend's world relays in Guangzhou.
"I see myself as an athlete that's never given up on achieving, that's never given up on trying to be the best.
"I really came into the season with a different mentality from last year. It was more of coming into the season with the mentality of being content, in a space where I'm happy as me as an athlete and not letting my achievements of track define me in my career."
Simbine added: "I know what my career has done, I know what my career is and I know what my career has shown to athletics.
"I've proved myself to be an elite athlete and I've proved myself to be an elite sprinter. I don't need a medal to kind of prove that. The medal is just a cherry on top.
"So having that tag as the nearly man, it's noise at the end of the day."
- Tokyo the goal -
Simbine's three victories this season have all been in sub-10 second times, meaning he became the first sprinter to run under that barrier for 11 straight years, outdoing Usain Bolt's previous record of 10 consecutive sub-10 seasons.
Simbine will headline a South African sprint quartet seeking to reclaim gold in the world relays in Guangzhou this weekend after previously winning in Chorzow in 2021.
The early-season Chinese swing is but a step en route to the world championships back in Asia, this time in Tokyo in September.
"At the beginning of the season, we always set a goal for the major championship, which is Tokyo," he said.
"And for me, that is to get on to the podium. But we're not even looking at it right now. We're just trying to make sure that we take each competition as it comes.
"We keep taking it week by week and trying to break the season down because it's such a long season. it's all geared up to be at our best in September and October."
Simbine credited his impressive start to the season to having had "a really great indoors" but said he wanted to peak later in the season.
"I'm not meant to be running 9.7 or 9.8 now in May. That doesn't make sense because we want to make sure we're at our best in September."
Looking even further ahead, Simbine admitted that a fourth Olympics, in Los Angeles, was on his radar.
"2028 is definitely the plan," he said. "But it might be my last Olympics. But we'll see. We'll see what the body says. If the body still allows after that, I will definitely stick around."
vg-lp/gj
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Kristof Milak to miss World Swimming Championships
Hungary's Kristof Milak will miss the World Swimming Championships in July and August due to health problems and a lack of motivation. 'We discussed it, I think this is the right decision,' Milak's coach Almos Szabo said, according to a translation of a Hungarian swimming federation press release. 'I also support this because we all know that in Kristof's case the bar is the highest, meaning if the preparation is incomplete, then it is obvious: Kristof Milak will not travel to a world championship if he does not have a chance to win there." Advertisement Milak has dealt with upper respiratory issues, plus had a surgery this spring, the coach said. "Since we have been working together, he has had this kind of illness five times, which is why he underwent more serious tests, where it turned out that these problems were also connected to his existing asthma," Szabo said. "Unfortunately, Kristof is not in the best of health, and this is the only reason why he has not been able to do proper training." When Milak has trained, 'he did brilliant things, it's amazing what potential he has," Szabo said. "At the same time, the fact is that he lacks the inner fire – and I can't turn it on. I can push buttons on him, but I don't have access to it, it depends solely on him. If he lights up in the future, he can do very big things again.' Milak, 25, won gold and silver medals each in the 100m and 200m butterflies at the last two Olympics. Advertisement In the 100m fly, the world's fastest men in 2025 are Swiss Noe Ponti (50.27 seconds) and Canadians Ilya Kharun (50.42) and Josh Liendo (50.46). In the 200m fly, the top men in 2025 are American Luca Urlando (1:52.37), Kharun (1:53.41) and American Carson Foster (1:53.70). France's Leon Marchand, the Olympic gold medalist in the 200m fly, has not raced the event in 2025 and has yet to announce which events he will swim at worlds in Singapore. katie ledecky 800m paris 2024 Katie Ledecky gives Stanford commencement keynote address, tells 2012 Olympic story Katie Ledecky graduated from Stanford in 2020 with a major in psychology and a minor in political science.
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Bruins David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and Pavel Zacha to play in 2026 Milan Olympics
McAvoy, who has a decorated history with Team USA, was an alternate captain at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. McAvoy's season ended prematurely at the 4 Nations after he suffered a shoulder injury in the opener. He played in Team USA's raucous win over Canada in Montreal but then dealt with a staph infection that Though McAvoy eventually returned to practice, he never got back to game action. Advertisement 'I don't even feel like I played hockey this year,' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up McAvoy said at the time that one of his goals was still to represent the US in the Olympics, and now he will get that chance. 'That is my dream of dreams, to play in an Olympics,' said McAvoy, who has played for Uncle Sam at two World Championships (2017, 2018) and won a gold medal at the 2017 World Junior Championship. 'Every part of that 4 Nations was a dream come true. There's a reason why I played that [Canada] game, because I'm not missing the game that I've dreamt of my whole life — it's the aftermath of that, that cost me my year. There's a lot of, I don't want to say regret, but an acceptance of what happened. And it sucks that I am still coming to grips with it. But I wouldn't trade it, the experiences, the friendships. I mean, that's what you dream of, and I've dreamt of that on a broader scale of being in the Olympics.' Advertisement Pastrnak has represented Czechia in six World Championships (2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2024, and 2025). He led all players in scoring at this year's tournament with 15 points in eight games. He was named to the tournament's All-Star team and named best forward. Zacha also represented Czechia at three IIHF World Junior Championships (2014, 2015, 2016). As rosters expand, it's likely more Bruins will be named. Those who will be under consideration include goalies In addition, Dans Locmelis, a 2022 draftee, has represented Latvia at numerous international tournaments, and would likely get the call again. Among those with Massachusetts connections that were named Monday include Jack Eichel (US/Chelmsford/Boston University), Brady Tkachuk (US/BU), and Cale Makar (Canada/UMass). Jim McBride can be reached at
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
Olympic Swimmer And World Record Holder Lily King Announces Retirement
Often known as the breaststroke queen, Olympic gold medalist and world record holder Lily King recently announced that 2025 will mark her final season in competitive swimming. The 28-year-old had previously stated she would not be training for the 2028 Los Angeles Games but had not given a definitive timeline for when her decorated career would come to an end—until now. Despite news that the 50-meter breaststroke will be added to the 2028 Olympic Games lineup, King has confirmed she still plans to retire. Throughout her career, King has been a dominant force in breaststroke, earning Olympic medals, world titles and setting global records. With the announcement of her retirement, let's look back at the highlights of her journey in the pool, from NCAA records to Olympic gold medals. Before attending Indiana University to begin her college swimming career, King captured her first junior national title in the 100-yard breaststroke at the U.S. Winter Junior Nationals at age sixteen, setting a new National Age Group record. At the 2014 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, she won gold in the 100-meter breaststroke, breaking the meet record. King's relay team also took victory and set a new meet record in the 4×100-meter medley relay at the championship. Just before joining the Indiana Hoosiers, King finished as runner-up in the 100-meter breaststroke at the 2015 World University Games. King didn't have to go far from home to attend Indiana University. She grew up in Indiana, was born in Evansville and attended Francis Joseph Reitz High School. As a freshman at the 2016 NCAA Division I Women's Championships, King broke the NCAA, American and U.S. Open records in the prelims of the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 57.15. She then shattered her own mark in the final, winning the event in 56.85. King wasn't done there. She also broke records in the 200-yard breaststroke, which she won by a wide margin with a time of 2:03.59, finishing nearly three seconds ahead of the field. King continued her dominance the following year at the 2017 NCAA Championships. She set a new meet record and defended her title in the 100-yard breaststroke (56.71). In the 200-yard breaststroke, she captured the title again, setting new NCAA, meet, American and U.S. Open records with a time of 2:03.18. In 2018, King lowered her personal bests once again, breaking the American records in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke with times of 56.25 and 2:02.60, respectively. With that 200 performance, she became the first woman ever to swim under 2:03 in the event. At the 2019 NCAA Championships, King set new NCAA, U.S. Open and American records in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 55.88—a mark that still stands as the NCAA record today. She also won the 200-yard breaststroke (2:02.90). From 2016 to 2021, King remained undefeated in the 100 breaststroke across yards and meters—a streak that established her dominance in the event. King made her Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Games, where she won gold in the 100-meter breaststroke, breaking the Olympic record with a time of 1:04.93. She also helped lead the U.S. team to victory in the 4×100-meter medley relay. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, King secured two silver medals—one in the 200-meter breaststroke and the other in the 4×100-meter medley relay—along with a bronze in the 100-meter breaststroke. At the 2024 Paris Games, King helped the U.S. team win gold again in the 4×100-meter medley relay. She placed fourth in the 100-meter breaststroke and eighth in the 200-meter breaststroke. In total, King has competed in three Olympic Games and earned six Olympic medals, including three gold medals. She has also won 27 World Championship medals, 18 of which are gold. King still holds the world record in the 100-meter breaststroke (long course), set at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, with a time of 1:04.13. She is also a current world record holder in two relays, including the 4×100 medley in both long course meters and short course meters, set in 2024 at the Paris Games and the Short Course World Championships. King recently competed at the 2025 National Championships, where she won first place in the 50-meter breaststroke with a time of 29.88 seconds and finished second in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:06.02). The meet was her final competition in the United States. King is set to race both events at the World Championships in Singapore this summer, which will likely be her last competition before retirement.
