Running sub-ten-second times is no big deal to Akani Simbine – he can do so nine of the ten times he races over 100 metres. But winning in 9.99s on Saturday during the Gauteng North Championships at Tuks was special.

The wind and not the stopwatch turned out to be the Tuks based sprinter’s biggest challenge. When the athletes settled in their starting blocks for the 100 metres final, they were up against a three-metre per second headwind.

Simbine is only the second sprinter to dip under 10 seconds so far this season. Benjamin Azamati-Kwaku (Ghana) clocked 9.97s on Friday in the USA.

The South African record-holder, Simbine, admits being disappointed and frustrated on Saturday.

“There was a mere moment that I thought, what is the point of racing. But you have to be able to adjust and set the mind straight. You must get focused on what you need to do. That is to run sub ten seconds. Today’s (Saturday) windy conditions were some of the worst I ever raced in,” Simbine said shortly after the race.

According to him, when he saw his time, he thought it is better than nothing.

“If it was not for the wind, I know I could have been faster,” he remarked.

Gift Leotlela (Tuks) was second in a time of 10.20s, with Thando Dlodlo (Tuks) third, clocking 10.35s.

Simbine was impressed by his younger rivals.

“It is great to have Gift back and to be racing against him. He has the potential to become one of the greats. Actually, today (Saturday) was exciting. Every athlete was prepared to race. If we can continue doing this, there is going to be some exciting racing in South Africa,” Simbine commented.

According to Simbine, his strategy is simple. He never races against any specific athlete. His only focus is to try and execute the perfect race. The Tuks based sprinter, however, hinted that he likes ‘ruling the thrown’. Whoever wants to outsprint him in South Africa will have to come up with something special.

Berend Koekemoer (Tuks) was impressive winning the 400 metres for men in 45.58s. His time is a mere 0.16s slower than his personal best of 45.42s. Koekemoer made a comeback in August last year after taking a 12-month sabbatical from racing.

Another good performance was Marli Viljoen (Tuks) setting a personal best by winning the 400 metres for women in a time of 53.69s. Gezelle Magerman was second in 53.81s which is also a personal best.

Taylon Bieldt (Tuks) caused quite an upset winning the women’s 400m-hurdles clocking 56.17s. It is a massive personal best. Wenda Nel (Tuks) was second in 56.72, Magerman third in 57.02 and Zeney van der Walt (Tuks) fourth in 58.70s.

Gora Lindukuhle (Tuks) won the men’s 400m-hurdles in 49.97s. Sokwakhana Zazini (Tuks) was unlucky. He took a tumble when being in the lead.

Luxolo Adams won the men’s 200 metres in 20.34s.

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram