It was a Thursday to remember for South Africa’s Akani Simbine, who equalled his country’s 100m Record and twice broke the University Games Record (UR) to win the GOLD medal in Gwangju, South Korea. Simbine made the headlines after breaking the UR in the semifinal, running 10.00s to smash Lee Macrae’s 10.07s, which has stood since 1987. He was even better in the final, setting another UR with his 9.97s.
It was a dominant 100m for Simbine at this Championship, coasting to victories in all his races. The 21-year-old had a systematic progress in Korea, winning his heat in round 1 with a time of 10.24s, and following it up with another win in round 2 in 10.26s.
Henrincho Bruinjites had on Sunday set a new South African Record of 9.97s, surpassing Simon Magakwe’s 9.98s, but Simbine has now matched it as both athletes now share the honours of the joint record.
This is not the first time that Simbine will be running a sub 10s. In March 2015, he first ran 9.99s at the European Athletics Classics Meeting in Slovenia, making him the second South African man to do so then.
Just last week, Wayde Van Niekerk set an African Record in the 400m at the Paris Diamond League with his 43.96s win, although it stood for a day before Bostwana’s Isaac Makwala set a new one of 43.72s. What this has shown is that South Africa is becoming a force to reckon with in Athletics and with their recent heroics; they will be the country to beat on the continent.
Photo Credit: www.enca.com
