Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 127, February 2020 - Page 38
has, yet the so-called ‘big three’ sporting codes
or rugby, soccer and cricket take the biggest
slice of the talent, funding and resources
available. “Athletics is so exciting, has so
many possibilities, it should be getting a much
bigger slice of that cake, so I want to create
opportunities, once I hang up my spikes, to
make that happen.”
Life Beyond the Track
When meeting Akani, one is immediately struck by the
calm, relaxed and mature demeanour of South Africa’s
number one sprinter. The 26-year-old oozes calm
confidence, but when he starts to talk about the future,
he soon gets excited, and very animated. “I have plans
for when I have finished competing, and I am already
working on them.” He says he relishes the responsibility
thrust onto him as the fastest man in South Africa. “I am
in the fortunate position that I can do this, something
which I really love, as a career, so I want to give back,
to assist more athletes to see the same opportunities
and possibilities. I want them to experience what I am
experiencing, and do more and better.”
However, Akani does admit to getting frustrated when
he sees the amount of athletic talent South Africa
38
For Akani, Tembisa township is an area of personal
interest and will be his first target in looking to the
next step in his career beyond the racing. “I am
from Tembisa. I grew up there and I see what life
is like in Tembisa. When I was growing up, schools
had sport. That is gone now, and I want to resurrect
that, so after the Olympics I will be creating my own
foundation and my first project will be to see if I can
help get sport back into the schools.” To this end,
Akani has already engaged with the MEC, and will be
looking at creating events in Tembisa at a later stage.
“I want to show the kids in Tembisa that there is a
whole wide world out there that they can conquer.
They do not need to be stuck in the rut that they
currently find themselves in.”
The Priority Goal
But for now, the focus is very much still on his
competitive career, and with his hip flexor issues a
thing of the past, Akani is confident that if he can get
his top end speed and endurance back, in conjunction
with his newfound starting prowess, then he will be a
major threat on the world stage in 2020. And winning
the gold medal in Tokyo would be a huge step in
achieving his dreams beyond his competitive career.
* The full names of all the relay team contenders
mentioned by Akani are Wayde van Niekerk, Clarence
Munyai, Thando Dlodlo, Thando Roto, Simon
Magakwe, Gift Leotlela, Anaso Jobodwana, Henricho
Bruintjies
Akani’s Stats & Honours
Personal Bests SA Championships Titles
International Honours Sub-10’s for 100m
2013
2014
2014
2014
2015
2015
2016
2016
2016
2017
2018
2018
2018
2018
2018
2019
2019
2019 2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
100m 9.89 Székesfehérvár, Hungary 18 July 2016
200m 19.95 Pretoria, South Africa
4 March 2017
Having represented his country on the world stage for
the first time in 2013, at the World University Games
in Kazan Russia, Akani has gone on to compile a
remarkable record of finals performances in his career,
with a number of wins and podium finishes.
ISSUE 127 FEBRUARY 2020 / www.modernathlete.co.za
World University Games, 4x100m 7 th
Commonwealth Games, 100m
5 th
Commonwealth Games, 4x100m 4 th
African Championships, 100m
8 th
World University Games, 100m 1 st
World University Games, 4x100m 3 rd
Africa Championships, 100m
3 rd
Africa Championships, 4x100m 1 st
Olympic Games, 100m
5 th
World Championships, 100m
5 th
Commonwealth Games, 100m 1 st
Commonwealth Games, 4x100m 2 nd
Africa Championships, 100m
1 st
Africa Championships, 4x100m 1 st
Continental Cup, 100m
3 rd
World Relays, 4x200m
2 nd
World Championships, 100m
4 th
World Championships, 4x100m 5 th
100m
2015, 2017
200m 2019
Akani has gone under 10 seconds on 24 occasions
since he clocked 9.99 in Velenje, Slovenia on 1 July
2015, followed by 9.97 to win the 100m gold medal
just one week later at the World University Games in
Gwangju, South Korea.
2 sub-10 times (Best of 9.97)
5 sub-10 times (Best of 9.89)
8 sub-10 times (Best of 9.92)
4 sub-10 times (Best of 9.93)
5 sub-10 times (Best of 9.92)
100m World Rankings
Since 2015, Akani has never been ranked outside the
top 20, and has been inside the top 10 for the last
four years.
2015 20 th
2016 5 th
2017
4 th
2018 9 th
2019 6 th
much talent here, we should have athletes fighting for
their relay spot. There is Wayde when he is fully fit,
Clarence, the two Thando’s, Simon, Anaso, Henricho,
and Gift who is returning to the track this year from
injury. We could field two relay teams with this kind
of depth, so we should not be targeting anything
less than a gold medal in Tokyo! And if you watch
Doha, the finals, Thando Dlodlo was right there with
Christian Coleman on the first leg when he handed
over to Justin Gatlin. Everyone was going on about
Coleman, Coleman, Coleman, but Thando was right
there alongside him. I’m telling you, if we get our
changeovers right, gold and 36 seconds is on.” *
As part of this, Akani says he has plans to become
involved in organising athletics meets that will cater
to schools, universities, relays, non-standard events
as well as the recognised events. In the meantime,
Akani and a number of his fellow athletes have become
very approachable and visible in the social media
sphere in order to promote the sport, notably with the
#FillUpPotch campaign ahead of the SA Champs in
2017. He says he wants athletes to continue along
those lines, but also wants the provincial bodies and
the national federation to pick up from what happened
in 2017. “We gave them a blueprint, now they must use
it, but we must all do our bit to promote the sport.”