Latest news with #Simbine
Eyewitness News
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Eyewitness News
Akani Simbine snatches a 3rd Diamond League win
Palesa Manaleng 26 May 2025 | 12:29 Diamond League Akani Simbine FILE: South Africa's Akani Simbine at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Photo: Jewel SAMAD / AFP JOHANNESBURG – Akani Simbine claimed his third 100m Diamond League win of 2025 in Rabat on Sunday., The 31-year-old sprinter stretched his unbeaten 100m record to five international meets. His pace over the final 30 or so metres was too much for the field as he streaked to an easy win, clocking 9.95sec ahead of Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala (10.05) and Olympic bronze medallist Fred Kerley of the US (10.07). "I feel great, I feel confident, I am happy that I could take the win today and that I can finish this month strong and healthy. Another sub-10 in the bag, so slowly we go down in time which is really great. I am looking forward to the rest of the season and going back to training in Italy to get ready for the next Diamond League' said Simbine to reporters afterwards. READ MORE: Akani Simbine sprints to a world-leading time at Botswana Golden Grand Prix Akani Simbine burns rubber at the Diamond League series in Xiamen Akani Simbine continues to dominate 100m with win at Atlanta City Games Simbine's 9.90 seconds from the Botswana Golden Grand Prix in April remains as the official world lead for 2025. "It's amazing to have this kind of competition in Africa. I wish we had so much more of them. Look at the stands, people love watching sports. It's really great to run on this continent, showcasing African talent and show the world that we can host great meets." The Olympian has won three 100m Diamond League events this season and a medal at the World Indoors and anchored Team SA to gold in the 4x100m World Relays. Pure Power 💥 Akani Simbine 🇿🇦 continues to lay down the law in the men's 100m, dropping a cool 9.95 seconds ⏱️ last night at #RabatDL 🇲🇦#DiamondLeague 💎 — Wanda Diamond League (@Diamond_League) May 26, 2025
Daily Maverick
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Maverick
Akani Simbine is leading South Africa's greatest-ever crop of sprinters
There is seemingly a young, world-class sprinter around every corner in South Africa. South Africa's sprinting stocks have been filled to the brim, and in some distances are pouring over. Akani Simbine is leading a pack of mostly young, incredibly fast sprinters who are starting to dominate the track globally. Simbine is in the form of his life, having won all five 100m races he's participated in this year, as well as opening his season with his first major medal, sealing bronze in the 60m Indoor Championships. Three of those five wins have been at Diamond League events, with his most recent victory this past weekend in Rabat, Morocco, in a time of 9.95 seconds. It came against a strong field that included Kenya's Ferdinand Omanyala, two-time Olympic 100m medalist Fred Kerley — who finished second and third respectively — as well as America's Kyree King and Botswana's first Olympic champion, Letsile Tebogo. The unprecedented run of success this year is built on a career of consistency by Simbine. In his first 100m race of the year, at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix at the start of April, Simbine ran 9.90 seconds — still currently the world lead — to become the first athlete ever to run sub-10 seconds in the 100m for 11 consecutive years. For the better part of the past decade Simbine has been carrying the 100m sprinting baton on his own internationally, but over the last few seasons a plethora of world-class sprinters have landed on the track. The one that has attracted the most attention is 19-year-old Bayanda Walaza. The attention is not unwarranted as this past weekend Walaza ran a blistering 9.94 seconds in Zagreb, Croatia — the fastest any South African under-20 athlete has ever run. The speedy dash put Walaza firmly into the national record books, as the tied fourth-fastest South African across 100m of all time. Only Simbine (9.82), Benjamin Richardson (9.86) and Shaun Maswanganyi (9.91) have ever gone faster. Depth A sign of South Africa's incredible depth is that Richardson (21) and Maswanganyi (24) are not even at the peak of their powers yet. South Africa's greatest-ever sprinters are all active right now. To add to them, Walaza'a 9.94 seconds is tied with Wayde van Niekerk and Gift Leotlela, whose personal bests are the same mark. Van Niekerk's history of injury is well documented. Leotlela though, having set that mark in 2021, is nearing being back to his best, which adds another name to South Africa's sprinting base. In April this year, 27-year-old Leotlela won the national championship title in the 100m dash in a time of 9.99 seconds, inching quicker than Walaza by 0.01 seconds. This victory came after a few seasons of injury and subsequent loss of form. Leotlela beat out an extremely competitive field that included Richardson, who placed third. The standard of competition was so high that Bradley Nkoana (20) — part of South Africa's 4x100m silver medallist team at the Paris Olympic Games, as well as bronze medalist at the under-20 World Athletics Championships last year — didn't even make the final. One-lap specialists South Africa's strength in depth is evident in the one-lap sprint as well. While there is no one standout like Simbine in the 100m version of the sprint, there is a world-class young group developing. The oldest of the bunch, Zakithi Nene (27), is having a breakthrough season of note after a disappointing Paris Olympic Games in which he failed to make the 400m final. Since then, the visibly stronger Nene has been in incredible form. He ran a personal-best of 44.22 seconds at the National Championships in April, comfortably beating a strong field — in which none of the eight runners went over 46 seconds. In Nene's most recent race, at the Diamond League in Rabat this weekend, he finished in a close second after being beaten at the dip by America's Jacory Patterson. Nene came in at 44.46 seconds. Lythe Pillay (22) is another with supreme control over the one-lap sprint, but has struggled so far to consistently replicate the form that made him a junior world champion. Pillay is a two-time national champion in the 400m and has a personal best of 44.31 seconds, exhibiting his clear potential. South Africa currently has two of the best under-20 runners in the 400m sprint coming through. Udeme Okon is only 19 years old and has already broken 45 seconds, claiming second place behind Nene at the National Champs in 44.99 seconds. He also won the Under-20 World Championship comfortably last year in Peru. Schoolboy Leendert Koekemoer (18), meanwhile, has a personal best of 45.03 seconds — which also came at the nationals. Koekemoer and Okon, despite their youthful ages, were both part of the 4x400m team that claimed gold and a national record at the World Relays in Guangzhou, China, earlier this month. Not only do they have the talent, they have the mettle, too. South Africa also has the always consistent Gardeo Isaacs, who along with Nene were the other members of the relay team, to fall back on as well as US-based Antonie Nortje. South Africa's sprinting depth has never been this deep before. It means that while athletes like Simbine are a shoo-in for a podium position at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September, both groups of athletes are also capable of returning with gold medals around their necks at the relay portion of the event — as they did at the World Relays. DM
IOL News
26-05-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Bayanda Walaza: The rising star set to succeed Akani Simbine as South Africa's sprint king
POISED FOR GREATNESS Bayanda Walaza, South Africa's teenage sprint sensation, is poised to succeed Akani Simbine as the nation's sprint king after setting a new SA junior 100m record of 9.94 seconds. Picture: BackpagePix 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. The 31-year-old Simbine is also unbeaten in five races now, following his victory in the Diamond League in Rabat on Sunday. Simbine also 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 contribution Akani Simbine has made to South African sprinting cannot be questioned, as he has been the flag-bearer for a generation. Bayanda Walaza Sets New SA Junior Record with 9.94, Poised to Succeed Simbine Despite his incredible form at his age, Simbine surely can't remain SA's top sprinter for much longer, as teenager Bayanda Walaza just keeps getting better. Walaza 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. Last year, Walaza was part of the SA men's 4x100m team which claimed silver at the Paris Olympics. That team was led by Simbine, in what to date has been his only major international medal. Despite his lack of medals on the biggest stage, the consistency and longevity of Simbine has been phenomenal. Testament to this is the fact that Simbine has run sub-10 in the 100m for the last 11 years in a row - which no other sprinter has ever achieved. Simbine's spikes indeed will be big ones to fill, but there's little doubt that Walaza will be up to the task when that day comes. @Michael_Sherman IOL Sport
The Citizen
26-05-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
Simbine heads back to training after third Diamond League victory
Extending his lead in the Diamond League series, Simbine clocked 9.95 to triumph in the 100m race in Rabat. Akani Simbine dips on the line to win the men's 100m race in Rabat. Picture: Issam Zerrok/AFP Having shone in the first half of the year, Akani Simbine says he will head back to training at his European base in Italy as he sets his sights on the second half of the season, including the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September. Simbine, 31, won his third straight Diamond League race over the 100m distance in Rabat on Sunday night, stopping the clock at 9.95 seconds. He outclassed a strong field, with African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya taking second place in 10.05 and former world champion Fred Kerley of the United States settling for third position in 10.07. Simbine ran under 10 seconds for the fourth time this year, remaining unbeaten over his specialist distance and extending his lead in the Diamond League series. 'I feel confident' Having already secured medals at the World Indoor Championships and the World Athletics Relays this season, the South African speedster said he would take a short break from racing in order to focus on preparing for the second half of the 2025 campaign. 'I feel great, I feel confident, and I am happy that I could take the win today and that I can finish this month strong and healthy,' Simbine said. 'Another sub 10 in the bag, so slowly we go down in time which is really great. I am looking forward to the rest of the season and going back to training in Italy to get ready for the next Diamond League.' Runner-up finishes for Nene and Sekgodiso Meanwhile, with a large contingent of South African athletes taking part, Zakithi Nene and Prudence Sekgodiso also delivered solid performances in Rabat. Nene led into the finishing straight but was unable to hold on in the men's 400m race, ultimately settling for the runner-up spot in 44.46. He was chased down by American athlete Jacory Patterson who snatched victory on the line in 44.37. In the women's 800m contest, Sekgodiso also grabbed second place, setting a season's best of 1:57.52. She crossed the line just 0.10 behind Ethiopian athlete Tsige Duguma who triumphed in 1:57.42.
TimesLIVE
25-05-2025
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
Akani Simbine maintains his 100m dominance at Rabat Diamond League
Akani Simbine stretched his unbeaten 100m record to five international meets as he won his third Diamond League contest of the season in Rabat on Sunday night. His pace over the final 30 or so metres was too much for the field as he streaked to an easy win, clocking 9.95sec ahead of Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala (10.05) and Olympic bronze medallist Fred Kerley of the US (10.07). Kerley had edged fourth-placed Simbine by one-hundredth of a second at the Paris Olympics last year, but on Sunday nobody had the gas to halt high-flying Simbine, who has registered a perfect start to the year with victories in Botswana, two in China and one in the US. This was also the 12th Diamond League meet victory of the 31-year-old's career, which drew him level with high-jump legend Hestrie Cloete and pushed him one ahead of Wayde van Niekerk, who ended fifth in the 200m later in the meet. Caster Semenya has the most Diamond League event wins of any South African with 21. 'I feel great, I feel confident,' Simbine was quoted as saying on the meet website. 'I am happy that I could take the win today and that I can finish this month strong and healthy. 'Another sub-10 in the bag, so slowly we go down in time which is really great. I am looking forward to the rest of the season and go back to training in Italy to get ready for the next Diamond League,' added Simbine, the 60m bronze medallist at the world indoor championships in China in March. The main goal is the world championships in Tokyo in September where Simbine is aiming to land the first global 100m medal of his career, having finished fourth and fifth on no fewer than six occasions since 2016. His countryman and 4x100m Olympic silver teammate in France, Shaun Maswanganyi, ended sixth in a season's best 10.19. World indoor champion Prudence Sekgodiso had to settle for second in the women's 800m, but her 1min 57.52sec effort was still the second-fastest time of her career and lifted her to second on the world list. Sekgodiso went into the home straight on Tsige Duguma's shoulder, but she just couldn't close the gap, measured at one-tenth of a second. Zakithi Nene ran a superb 400m race, going into the home straight with a clear lead before he tired over the final 10 metres to finish second behind American Jacory Patterson, the only man to have gone under 44 seconds so far this year. Patterson hit the line first in 44.37 with the South African following in 44.46, the second-best time of his career. Van Niekerk clocked 20.26 in a 200m missing Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana who withdrew after showing discomfort in the 100m. American Courtney Lindsey won in 20.04. Van Niekerk was just 0.03 off his fastest post-injury time, set last year. Compatriot Benjamin Richardson, who beat Van Niekerk at the national championships last year, ended seventh in 20.49. Olympic silver medallist Jo-Ane du Plessis was fifth in the women's javelin after a best effort of 59.25m. Zeney Geldenhuys was fifth in the women's 400m hurdles, clocking 55.37 to finish fifth in a race won by Dutch star Femke Bol in 52.46. Rogail Joseph was last in 57.91.
