Reaching his goal of constantly dipping below the magical 10 second mark over the 100-metre sprint, South Africa’s Akani Simbine has his sights set on silverware at major championships.
Simbine drew the curtain on an impressive season at the Zurich Diamond League meeting a week ago racing to second place dipping below 10 seconds for the seventh time in his career.
What made the feat the more impressive is the fact that Simbine ran his first sub-10 second sprint at Velenje last year July.
He has since set the national mark three times, currently holding the South African record of 9.89 seconds, which he clocked in Hungary shortly before the Rio Olympic Games.
“At the beginning of the year I said my goal was to run sub-10 all the time and I managed to do that most of the time so I’ve established myself as a sub-10 runner now,” Simbine said on his return to the country on Wednesday.
“I’ve learned how to do it and it is just a matter of getting the job done because I know my body can go that fast and even faster.”
While a sub-9.90s seems to be the new golden standard in the 100m dash, Simbine’s coach Werner Prinsloo said his charge would be looking for podium places instead of times.
“I don’t think we should look at the times, we are looking at major competitions going forward, I think he has the potential and he is in a good shape to medal at most of these events,” Prinsloo said.
“So we are looking forward to the World Champs and the Commonwealth Games coming up in two years time.
“For him to continue we need to be in the medals and if the times are good it is a bonus.”
Last month Simbine became the first South African male sprinter since Danie Joubert in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games to make it into the final of the 100m dash.
Simbine came painstakingly close to winning the bronze medal but was pipped to the line finishing in a close fifth place finishing three hundredths of a second behind third-placed finisher Andre de Grasse of Canada, who clocked 9.91 seconds.
Jamaican world-record holder Usain Bolt crossed the line first for his third consecutive Olympic 100m title in a time of 9.81s with America’s Justin Gatlin bagging the silver in 9.89s.
“It has been a fantastic year for us, almost breakthrough year for us, and all the sub-10s he ran was on the cards,” Prinsloo said.
“Rio was just the culmination of all that hard work, of all our preparation and we look forward to the next year.”
In June Simbine and world 400m record-holder Wayde van Niekerk spent time with Bolt and Yohan Blake during a training camp under the guidance of renowned coach Glen Mills.
There Mills gave Simbine some words of encouragement giving credence to the young South African athlete’s ability as a world-class sprinter.
“Glen Mills was very excited, he said he always knew I could run faster than I did, I got an email from him after the 9.89 seconds and he said he knew I was going to run faster and I just needed to sort out a few things.
“Now I am showing I can be a dominant sprinter in the world.”
The Games will also be remembered for the Athletics South Africa’s (ASA) bizarre decision not to enter Simbine for the 200m.
Simbine was the country’s inform half-lap sprinter but instead ASA opted to included juniors Gift Leotlela, Clarence Munyai and national record-holder Anaso Jobodwana, who all bombed in the heats in Rio.
The 22-year-old Simbine has put that disappointment behind him as he would be looking to join Van Niekerk and Jobodwana in the sub-20 second club over the 200m sprint.
“They say great things come to those that wait, and I am guessing next year will be the year for sub-20,” Simbine said.
As Van Niekerk turns his attention to the half-lap sprint the mouthwatering prospect of having three South African sprinters challenging for medals on the global stage in the 200m could be on the cards.
The Star