TRACK & FIELD trains well and is healthy , he will race well , and his winning streak did a lot for his confidence ,” says Werner . “ He expected a tough race in Rome , but it did not faze him , and I think he ran one of his best races . He had a good start and managed to dominate from then on , and over the second 50 metres , he increased his lead with each stride .”
“ The big thing for Akani and me was that 2020 should not be remembered as a wasted year . In June , I was prepared to scrap the year , because Akani had not been able to train properly , but when things started to change for the better , it was vital for us to make the most of every opportunity . We wanted to race , and we wanted to win , and the fact that Akani managed to clock two sub-10 times is an absolute bonus , because it was never going to be about times this season . Just to be on the track in Europe , training and competing was all that mattered .”
A global pandemic was never going to be able to slow down SA sprint sensation Akani Simbine for long , and his recent results in Europe bode well for his chances of a medal at next year ’ s Olympics … but also raises the question what could have been this year if the Games had not been postponed . – BY WILHELM DE SWARDT & SEAN FALCONER
Going into the 2020 season , Akani Simbine
had every right to feel confident that this could be his best year yet … After all , in his glittering career he had already been to the Rio Olympics in 2016 , competed in four World Champs , and won a gold medal at 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast , Australia . He also had 24 sub-10-second times to his name , two wins on the Diamond League circuit ( Doha 2017 and London 2019 ) and an SA Record of 9.89 seconds , which he set in Hungary in 2016 . And having finished fifth in the 2016 Olympic and 2017 World Champs 100m finals , and fourth in 2019 World Champs final , he was determined to medal at the Tokyo Olympics .
He started the year in fine form , posting a 9.91 on the way to winning the Gauteng North provincial champs title in March , but then the COVID-19 pandemic forced much of the world into lockdown and led to the postponement of the Olympics to 2021 . The sport was also shut down in South Africa , including all the stadiums , and it was months before Akani could even return to the track , but in September he was not just
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Dream Season
( In Spite of COVID )
ISSUE 134 OCTOBER 2020 / www . modernathlete . co . za
back in action on the European circuit , he was on his way to achieving something that few athletes have been able to do .
He started with a 10.19 win in the World Athletics meeting in Marseille , France , followed by a 10.17 victory at the Palio Città Della Quercia Meeting in Rovereto , Italy . Next he clocked 10.02 during the Gala dei Castelli Meeting in Bellinzona , Switzerland to make it three consecutive wins in international meets for the first time since 2015 , and then he won the 100m final at the Diamond League Meeting in Rome with a 9.96 effort . This meant he had not been beaten throughout the season , winning seven races on the trot , and he had clocked two of the four fastest times in the world along the way
Ticking Off the Goals
For Simbine ’ s coach , Werner Prinsloo , the win in Rome meant it was mission accomplished . “ If Akani
Hundredths of a Second
Simbine will now take a break from training until the end of October , and will then start pre-season training for 2021 and the build-up to next year ’ s delayed Tokyo Olympic Games . In an interview with TuksSport , he said his aim always remains the same , no matter where , when or who he races . “ That is to be faster and better and more clinical in my racing . I can only focus on controlling the controllable , which is giving 100 % during training and racing . The aim is to be the best I can when I race . When I can tick off all the boxes I need to , then anything is possible .”
The Adidas-Tuks athlete also had rich words of praise for Werner . “ Coach is a perfectionist , and someone that is very analytical . He is a great thinker who is on a ‘ forever quest ’ to find ways as to how I could gain that extra hundredth of a second .” Echoing these words , Werner says , “ I think the blueprint of what needs to be done has been established , and I was impressed by Akani ’ s top-end speed in Rome , but we have identified a few small things in his technique which we need to work on . For one , he needs to be faster out of the blocks , because sprinting will always be about marginal gains . If Akani has a good start , there are very few sprinters who will be able to beat him .”
Images : Reg Caldecott
This article was supplied by The Department of Sport ( TuksSport ) at the University of Pretoria . Tuks is home to some of the best sporting opportunities in the world , with more than 30 sport clubs . To find out more , go to www . up . ac . za / tukssport .