Simbine sprints to 4th Diamond League victory in Florence
“I would have been super stressed from putting so much pressure on myself. Now, I take it as motivation – people believe in me, believe in my talent, and do what I can do, so I use it to push myself and become even better. I will be in Europe until we go to Tokyo, so I will be here and go to my other races as planned.”
Akani Simbine notched up his fourth 100m victory in the Diamond League by running 10.08s in Florence last Thursday evening.
The Tuks-based sprinter did not have the best of starts, but once he got into his rhythm and reach his top-end speed, there was no stopping him. He outsprinted England’s Chijindu Ujah by two seconds. Emmanuel Matadi (Liberia) was third with a time of 10.16s.
“The plan for today was nothing but the win. This was my first competition since our National Championships six weeks ago. I was eager to race. I have taken a lot of confidence from the race, especially since the body feels healthy. There is a good race in the legs waiting to happen,” explained the Tuks-based athlete.
On asked how it felt to be the pre-race favourite, Simbine said his answer would have been entirely different if asked the same question a few years back.
“I would have been super stressed from putting so much pressure on myself. Now, I take it as motivation – people believe in me, believe in my talent, and do what I can do, so I use it to push myself and become even better. I will be in Europe until we go to Tokyo, so I will be here and go to my other races as planned.”
The South African 400m-hurdles champion, Wenda Nel (Tuks), finished fourth running 55.20s. It is only four seconds slower than her season’s best.
Femke Bol (Netherland) won in 53.44s setting a national record. Anna Ryzhykova (Ukraine) was second in 54.19s and Jessica Turner (Britain) third in 54.77s.
What excited Nel about her performance is her consistency. Since she won her ninth national title, she has been continually running sub-56 seconds races. Last night’s time was again an Olympic qualifier.
“From past experience, I have learned that if I can run 55 seconds races all the time, it is only a matter of time before the breakthrough race happens. It will be fantastic if I get to run 54 seconds again.
“I am happy with how I executed ‘tonight’. My stride pattern was perfect, and I had enough left in my legs to put in a final surge going over the last two hurdles. The only mistake I made was perhaps starting off too conservatively.”
Nel is not sure when she will be racing again.
“Hopefully, I have impressed the Diamond League organisers enough to get another invite. In the meanwhile, the focus will be to sort out a few small things in my technique.”
South Africa’s Zakhiti Nene was fourth in the men’s 400m event running 46.23s. Anthony José Zambrano (Columbia) won in 44.76s.
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