Simbine back on track in Rome

“Akani is totally over the injury, and he has been training well over the last two to three weeks. He flew to Rome, where he is taking part in the Diamond League.”

Cape Town - Akani Simbine lost his South African 100m title in April, and nearly had to relinquish his national record a few days ago too.

Henricho Bruintjies was the man who dethroned Simbine of the SA title at Coetzenburg in Stellenbosch, when Simbine felt a slight hamstring twinge in the blocks, but decided to continue running.

He had to be helped off the track by close friend Wayde van Niekerk after collapsing in a heap after crossing the finish line, and he hasn’t run since.

But the 22-year-old Tuks athlete has been on the mend, and is now ready to prove that he is the No 1 sprinter in the country ahead of Bruintjies - who became his training partner this year after moving up to Pretoria from the Boland.

Simbine’s SA record of 9.96, which he ran in Pretoria in March, was surpassed by Bruintjies’ thrilling 9.89 that he produced at the Gavardo Meeting in Italy on Sunday.

Unfortunately for Bruintjies, it’s not a new SA mark as the wind reading measured 4.4 metres per second, well beyond the acceptable 2m/s limit.

Nevertheless, Bruintjies has laid down a marker, and now Simbine will have a point to prove when he lines up in his first race since the SA championships in Thursday’s Diamond League meet in Rome.

The Golden Gala, as it is called, will feature a glittering array of world-class competitors, including South Africa’s very own 400m world champion Van Niekerk, as well as 800m star Caster Semenya, who are among eight local athletes who will take part in Italy.

“Akani is totally over the injury, and he has been training well over the last two to three weeks. He flew to Rome on Tuesday night, where he is taking part in the Diamond League on Thursday night,” Simbine’s coach Werner Prinsloo told Independent Media.

Simbine will face off against a quality field that will include American superstar Justin Gatlin, Frenchman Jimmy Vicaut and Qatar’s Femi Ogunode, who has the 2016 world-leading time of 9.91.

“After Rome, Akani is going to Jamaica for the camp with Usain Bolt and for the Racers Grand Prix (June 11, where he will run against Bolt and Yohan Blake in the 100m), and it’s Boston after that for the new adidas Boost Street Race. Then it’s African Champs (in Durban on June 22),” Prinsloo said.

“It doesn’t help them to train in South Africa as it’s too cold here now and there are no races.”

ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za

@IndyCapeSport

Indepednent Media