Cape Town — Akani Simbine showed that he is the king of South African sprinting by clinching the 100m title at the national championships on Thursday.
Running into a headwind of 0.3 metres per second on a cool afternoon, it was always going to be difficult to get close to a really quick time at the coast.
And so it proved for Simbine at the Green Point Stadium. It was a nervy beginning for all the athletes as Emile Erasmus was disqualified for a false start.
Akani Simbine shows his experience and quality to win the men's 100m final with a time of 10.31 ⏱#ASANationalChampionship #ASA pic.twitter.com/fl3slvhpZp
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) April 21, 2022
But once they were out of the blocks at the second time of asking, Simbine showed the class that has taken him to two consecutive Olympic finals and secured the 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medal.
He was chased all the way by youngsters Bradley Nkoana and Neo Mosebi, but the 28-year-old had built up enough of a lead over the first 80 metres that he was able to gesture at his fellow competitors even before the finish line.
The winning time of 10.31 seconds won’t be remembered for too long, but it was the title that mattered to Simbine after his coach Werner Prinsloo changed their approach in 2022 to make a later start to the season.
He will most definitely get quicker once he goes overseas for the international season ahead of the African championships in June, and the world championships in July.
Nkoana was awarded the silver medal in a time of 10.34, with Mosebi handed the bronze in the same time.
In the women’s 100m final a few minutes earlier, veteran Carina Horn made a successful return from a two-year doping ban to clinch victory in a time of 11.54 seconds.
There was drama as well, with Reabetswe Moloi disqualified in the very same lane six as Erasmus for a false start.
But Horn kept her composure to take the gold medal, with Phindile Kubheka grabbing the silver in 11.61, while Tamzin Thomas finished third in 11.69.
IOL Sport