Pretoria has medal hopeful in Simbine
South African sprinter Akani Simbine would likely line up against athletics greats such as Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake in this year's Olympics.
South African 100m record holder Akani Simbine is an Olympic medal hopeful at this year’s Olympics in Rio, Brazil.
The local speedster has been impressive of late after strong finishes in the Diamond League in Rome.
Just last month, he and another South African sprinter, Wayde van Niekerk, were invited to join Olympic champion Usain Bolt for a training camp under the watch of legendary coach Glen Mills in Jamaica.
Simbine later competed in the 100m race last month, in Jamaica, which featured Bolt and Yohan Blake, finishing sixth in an impressive seasonal time of 10,01 seconds.
Having already qualified for the winter games, Simbine would want to improve his season best of 9,97 seconds (also a South African record). But if Simbine is to get a medal at this year’s 100m, he would need to crack a time of 9,8 seconds.
His biggest competitors are no doubt four-time champion Bolt, current Jamaican champion Blake and American sprinter Justin Gatlin.
Having already raced against Bolt and Blake, the Pretorian star would know what to expect in the Olympics, which start on 5 August.
In March, Simbine produced a record-breaking performance in the 100m when he won in 9,96 seconds at the ASA Night Series Meeting at Pilditch Stadium, Pretoria.
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