Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 131, June 2020 June 2020 | Page 51

It didn’t matter one bit to South Africa’s fastest
sprinter, Akani Simbine, that he was not doing his
first decent speed session, since lockdown began,
on a synthetic track. What mattered to him was that
he was outside, that he could feel the sun on his back
and hear birds tweeting, and could talk to Werner
Prinsloo. The last time athlete and coach were able to
meet, train and plan was 25 March, the day before the
national lockdown started.
The adidas-sponsored Tuks sprinter had a brilliant
start to his season when in March, during the Gauteng
North Championships at Tuks, he clocked a time of
9.91 seconds. That is just 0.02 seconds slower than
the South African Record for 100m he set in 2016 in
Hungary. At the time, Werner confidently predicted that
it was not a case of whether Akani is capable of going
faster, but rather when he will improve his record.
Images: Reg Caldecott
Sprinting on
the Golf Course
SA’s premier sprint star, Akani Simbine started his lockdown-breaking ‘long
sprint to freedom’ recently when he got to challenge his coach Werner Prinsloo’s
stopwatch for the first time in 10 weeks, on a golf course in Kempton Park.
– BY WILHELM DE SWARDT & SEAN FALCONER
Akani beats Simon
Magakwe (left) and
Henrico Bruintjies
at the Gauteng
North Champs
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic saw all
sport in South Africa come to an abrupt halt at the
end of March, and it is only now, late in June, that
things are slowly starting to go back to normal with
sporting codes gradually being give the go-ahead to
resume restricted training or competition. While Akani
admits to having been worried about the COVID-19
outbreak, at the same time, he says he is a realist.
“As an athlete, I can only focus on controlling the
controllable. And that is giving 100% during training
and racing.”
Jumpstarting the Year
Werner admits that the 10 weeks of inactivity were
frustrating, but he says he is not one to dwell on what
could have been. “It is what it is. At least with level
three of the lockdown, we can work together again,
and it is not a bad thing to be training on grass. We
have done so in the past here in Kempton Park, and
the most significant benefit is that there is less impact
on Akani’s joints. As a result, I found Akani to be in
better shape when we eventually resumed training on
a synthetic track.”
The coach jokingly adds that he might consider taking
up golf, as he can work on his putting while his athlete
is sprinting down the fairway. On a more serious note,
he says that the focus, for now, is to fine-tune Akani’s
technique. “We are also focussing on his speed.
Luckily it is not a problem, as once a sprinter has
learned to race at a certain pace, it becomes part of
their muscle memory. It is about activating the body
again.”
Looking ahead, Werner says they are in a race
against time to ensure Akani is in reasonable shape
by September, as that is when he plans to start his
European campaign. “For Akani to be top fit, we
need more time – 12 weeks is not enough. That is
why we will not even consider racing earlier.” He
adds that no final decision has been made yet as to
where and when Akani will be competing. “Everything
is so uncertain due to the pandemic, and a lot can
change in the next few weeks. All will depend on what
meetings there are in September... and the one thing
we want to avoid is spending unnecessary time at
airports or travelling.”
One of the World’s Fastest
Since 2015, Akani has posted 25 sub-10-second
results in the 100 metres, with the latest being the
9.91 he ran at those Gauteng North Champs, his
first meet of the season. He actually ran his fastest
time in a qualifying round, while the semi-final and
final rounds were fractionally slower at 10.03 and
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