His performance in the World Championships final in Tokyo was not up to scratch by Simbine's own high standards.
As South Africa’s most reliable track and field athlete over the last decade, we can only be grateful to Akani Simbine for the commitment he has shown to the sport of athletics.
But as much as we have enjoyed seeing him taking on the world’s best year after year, we have to start asking how much he has left in him.
I used to think it would be a real shame if he retired without an individual medal at a major international championship. I don’t feel that way anymore.
Simbine has had an incredible career and he will leave a legacy. He is the only sprinter to have run under 10 seconds over the 100m distance 11 years in a row, and he has reached the short sprint final at seven editions of the World Championships and Olympic Games since 2016, which is a phenomenal achievement.
On top of this, he has won gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, African Championships and World Student Games, and he has won 12 Diamond League races since 2017.
In addition, he has anchored the national 4x100m relay team to gold at the World Athletics Relays and silver at the Olympic Games.
Starting to struggle?
But we need to be realistic, and his performance in the World Championships final in Tokyo on Sunday, where he settled for last place, was not up to scratch by his own high standards.
The reality is that he turns 32 this weekend, and after competing as well as he has for so long, it might be time for us to accept that the elusive individual global medal will never come.
He has run well this year, securing a bronze medal in the 60m sprint on debut at the World Indoor Championships and winning three Diamond League races, but the world’s fastest men were missing from those line-ups.
His season’s best of 9.90 places him 15th in the world rankings this year in the 100m event.
Simbine has a tremendous amount of experience which can still carry him for another few years on the international circuit, and he can also continue playing a key role in the 4x100m relay, but I’m not sure he has the leg speed to run faster than the 9.82 national record he set at the Olympics last year. And an individual global medal might now be out of reach.
I might be jumping the gun here, and Simbine himself believes he will still be competitive at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, so we’ll see if he can continue tearing up the track over the next few seasons.
However, while I really hope I’m wrong, I feel we might have seen the best of Akani Simbine.
