Akani Simbini has one thing on the mind : He just wants to race . “ That ’ s what we are here for . I don ’ t want to see a situation where the top athletes avoid each other until a big championship . I remember the days of Carl Lewis , Ben Johnson and Linford Christie . Those guys raced each other time and again , and people came out to watch and were excited about the sport then ,” he says . “ We must do the same now , and I want to line up with Trayvon Brommel , Christian Coleman and Julian Forte as well our own sprinters .”Disappointing Year When you meet Akani , you are immediately impressed with his quiet , yet confident demeanour . At 174cm , he cuts a figure that you immediately notice , whether he has just stepped off the track or is relaxing in casual clothes . There is an aura around him , and he oozes confidence , knowing full well that he is one of the best sprinters in the world … and that ’ s why 2017 was a bit of a disappointment , in his books . “ After 2016 , when I got to the final of the Olympic 100m and finished fifth , for me 2017 was about the start of my medal and title campaign .”
The year definitely started with a statement of note as Akani clocked 9.93 in his opening race in Pretoria in March , something the South African public was not used to seeing . Traditionally , sprinters open a season with a low 10 and then try and bring that time down as the season progresses , but not Akani – he believed he could go under 10 from race one . However , shortly after that race he picked up a niggle in his hip flexor that would just not go away .
“ At World Champs in August it was really bad . I would take my second step out of the blocks and I would feel intense pain , and for the rest of the race in round one I was thinking about the pain . Normally we don ’ t
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think about anything in a 100m race . We execute . So for me to be thinking about the pain , that was bad .” Akani clocked 10.15 , his worst race of the season , but still progressed to the semi-finals . “ Even in the semi I felt that pain , but was able to control it better .” He duly ran 10.05 in lane one to secure a berth in the 100m final , where he again finished fifth . “ That final was so weird . Bolt getting beaten , Gatlin getting booed , and none of us seeing Gatlin come flying through on the outside ... That was not how I saw my World ’ s going down .”
Long Season Ahead As a result , 2017 was a bit of a letdown for Akani , but he feels that it has prepared him well for 2018 . “ It would have been nice if the hip flexor had given me grief in a Diamond League instead of at World ’ s , because I am convinced I would have come back with a medal , but the experience has made me so much
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stronger , and now I just want to race .” That said , he admits 2018 is going to be a long campaign , but he says he ’ s ready . “ I start in March and race all the way through to September , and this year I want titles . The first is the Commonwealth 100m Gold in Australia , then I want the African title in August . I am the fastest man in Africa , but want the title to go with it , then a few Diamond Leagues , but the big focus at the end of the year is the Continental Cup in Ostrava . I want those titles .”
The Continental Cup is the old World Cup , a competition held over two days that sees continent take on continent , which means that Simbine will need to win the African title , as the continental champion will represent at the meet . In the meantime , he will race on the 8 th and 22 nd of March in Pretoria and Paarl at the new Athletix Grand Prix meets , and defend his title at Nationals in Pilditch on the weekend of 15-17 March . He adds that we can expect a replication of 2017 ’ s ‘ FillUpPotch ’ campaign for the Nationals in Pretoria . “ Most definitely ! It worked . I have never raced in front of such a big crowd in South Africa , and we want to do it again . We want South Africans to see we have world class athletes competing here at home .”
Akani Fact File • 100m PB – 9.89sec
• 200m PB – 19.95sec
• 15 sub-10sec in the 100m – most by any South African
• Only South African to go sub-10 ( 100m ) and sub-20 ( 200m ) on the same day
• First South African since readmission to reach both the Olympic and World Championship 100m finals
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Images : Roger Sedres / ImageSA |