The reason why Akani Simbine (Tuks/hpc) was able to win the 100 metres in 9.89s in Budapest last night, setting a new South African record in the process, was his perfect start.

According to Matthew Quinn, a former Olympian, who ran a best time of 10.08s in1999, he never doubted that Simbine was capable of running world-class times.

“Akani is such a class act. Every time he lines up to race you expect something out of the ordinary to happen. But in the past he quite often seemed sluggish when getting out of his starting blocks.

“In Budapest, he absolutely nailed his start. It was incredible and literally made the difference. If he can continue to get his start right there is no limit to what he might still achieve.”

Simbine ascribes his good performance last night, when he set a new South African record and ran a personal best time of 20.16s in the 200 metres, to the fact that he was confident and relaxed.

“I just wanted to enjoy myself and, yeah, it just came together. I was not fazed to run against Asafa Powell (Jamaica), Kim Collins (USA) and Mike Rodgers (USA).  Actually, I was honoured.”

LJ van Zyl, who roomed with Simbine in Budapest, may have inadvertently helped to put the South African sprinter in the right mind-set.

“The morning before the race I wanted to check something on Akani’s mobile phone. When I asked him for his I-phone password and he told me it was 989, I jokingly said it was the time he was going to run.”

Quinn becomes quite excited when he starts talking about what has been happening in South African sprints over the past two years.

“South Africa is fortunate to have a serious crop of amazing sprinters at the moment. Nearly every time athletes such as Akani, Wayde (Van Niekerk), Anaso (Jobodwana), Gift (Leotlela) and Clarence (Munayi) step onto the track they do something special. They have taken South African athletics to a new level.”

Asked why it took so long for South African sprinters to break 10 seconds in the 100 metres, 20 seconds in the 200 metres and 44 seconds in the 400 metres, Quinn said the way sprinters train makes the difference.

“I would have loved to train the way they do today. Nothing is left to chance.  Athletes and coaches focus on every small technical aspect and the scientific guidance the athletes receive definitely also makes a difference.

Hennie Kriel (Tuks/hpc) who coaches the two 18-year-olds, Leotlela and Munayi, who are the youngest track athletes to represent South Africa at the Games, describes Simbine’s 9.89s performance as awesome.

“Akani again set a new standard for South African sprinting. The challenge for the youngsters now is to try to keep up with him. If they can do that, athletics will become much more exciting for South African fans as well as internationally.”