JOHANNESBURG - South Africa’s Akani Simbine, made a triumphant return to competition on Thursday night, displaying impressive form in his first international race of the season at the European Continental Tour meeting in Marseille, France.
After winning his 100m heat in 10.31 seconds, Simbine returned to the track three hours later for the final.
Simbine put up a fierce fight in a close contest against Ivorian sprinter Arthur Cisse, the SA record holder held off his nearest challenger by 0.02, snatching victory in 10.19.
In the men's 110m hurdles race, African record holder Antonio Alkana took fourth position in 13.81. Olympic silver medallist Orlando Ortega of Spain won the race in 13.15.
He ran one of the fastest 100m in 2020. 🏃 @WorldAthletics @AkaniSimbine broke the 10.0 second barrier by clocking in at 9.91 seconds back in March.
— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) August 20, 2020
The South African🇿🇦 sprinter intends to compete in both the 100m and 200m at #Tokyo2020
Learn more 👉 https://t.co/w5WSwqlSJb pic.twitter.com/Bnx2Hb70oq
“That’s an impressive restart after the athletics season was brought to a complete four to five months standstill by the corona virus pandemic that is still devastating the world,” said Aleck Skhosana, the president of Athletics South Africa.
“We congratulate Akani, his coach and support staff for the hard work that began during South Africa’s ongoing lockdown.
It’s still early days for him and others, though, who have been granted permission to compete outside the borders since our country is still under lockdown.”
African News Agency (ANA)