Akani Simbine is finished wondering what could have or should have happened out on the track. On Sunday when he lines up to for 100 metres heats at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, he will be on “Mission Gold”.

“In the past when I competed at a major event I had a mindset of just wanting to get through each round. It was a case of I will see what will happen if I get to qualify for a semi-final, and then I see what happens if I get to the final,” said the Tuks sprinter.

“But my mental approach has changed. I now just see ‘gold’. I believe I am worth a gold medal. I have done the work, and I am at a point where I can get it. I want to make South Africa proud.”

Simbine was not at his best at last year’s World Championships in London. He finished 4th in his heat which meant he so nearly missed out going through to the semi-final. He was fifth in the final running 10.01s.

“I have put what happened at last year’s World Championships behind me. It is part of the past. My goal each time when I compete at a major event is to learn from my mistakes and learn I did in London. As I have said, I know now how to handle myself going through each round.”

Simbine is never going to be obsessed with just wanting to beat one athlete, but he casually mentioned that he would not mind getting one over Yohan Blake (Jamaica). He has got a good reason for wanting to do so.

At the 2016 Olympic Games, 100m-final in Rio Blake was fourth in the final running 9.93s, and Simbine was fifth clocking 9.94. At last year’s World Championships in London Blake again just pipped the Tuks sprinter finishing fourth in 9.99s. Simbine’s time was 10.01s.

Up to now they have raced each other three times with Blake always just managing to stay in front of Simbine.

“There is no arguing that Blake is a good sprinter. I got a lot of respect for him and what he has achieved. Racing against him is always exciting, but I think it is my time to beat him now.  But it will be a mistake to focus just on one athlete. The reality is that there is going to be a quality line-up in the final and I will race whoever is there running to the best of my ability,” said the Tuks sprinter.

“I am happy with where I am at the moment. In my last race in Paarl, I was able to execute all my phases to perfection. I was especially happy with how I executed my acceleration phase.”

As to not yet having run a sub ten-second race so far this season, Simbine said: "Normally I would open my season with some really fast times. But I had many conversations, including with Usain Bolt, and they all advised me to save my sub ten-second races for later the season when it matters, and I am planning to do just that.”