#TuksAthletics: Akani Simbine fourth in Tokyo 2020 Olympics men’s 100m-final

Posted on August 01, 2021

Italy's Lamont Jacobs is the new Olympic 100 metres champion after winning this afternoon in a time of 9.80s.

His winning time is the second-fastest for the season. Fred Kearly (USA) was second in the Olympic final, running 9.84s and Andre de Grasse (Canada) third in 9.89s.

South Africa's Akani Simbine was again the unlucky one, finishing fourth in a time of 9.93. So he missed out by 0.04 seconds on winning a medal. In 2016 in Rio, he also lost out by 0.04s.

The Tuks based athlete had no excuses.

"It is just the race. It is the final. The better man won on the day. I am really happy for Jacobs but disappointed in myself. The positive I can take from the Games is that I made the final."

Simbine was in the mix up to the middle stages of the race, but then he seemed to 'fade'.

The Tuks athlete praised his rivals, saying their top-end speed was at another level.

Danie Cornelius (TuksAthletics Manager) said he could see that Simbine so wanted to win a medal for South Africa, but the pressure to do so got to him.

"Akani ran two of the fastest times his career today. His time in the semifinals was 9.90s which is the third fastest. His 9.93s is also one of his best.

"Akani was too tense in the final. His start was not bad. Only Kearly was faster out of the blocks. But he took too long to get in the upright position to 'start driving'. I could see the tension in his upper body as he ran," Cornelius explained. 

According to Cornelius, there is a real risk that, for the first time since the 1992 Barcelona Games, that no South African track and field athlete will medal at an Olympics.

The defending Olympic champion and 400m world record holder, Wayde van Niekerk, finished third in his heat this morning, running 45.25s. His time was, however, only the 12th fastest time.

The bad news for South Africa's 4x100m relay team is that Gift Leotlela tore his hamstring this afternoon in the 100-metre semifinals. Despite that, he still managed to finish fourth running 10.04s.

"My season is done. I won't be able to run the relays. But still, I am satisfied with what I had achieved. I managed to run a personal best time of 9.94s and won a few races in Europe. It proves if I am healthy, I can compete against the best. Now I am just going to focus on my studies, said the Tuks student-athlete.

Leotlela injury is a big setback for South Africa's 4x100m-relay team. He was part of the team that won gold at the World Relay Championships earlier this season.

What was exciting was that for the first time in Olympic history, three South African sprinters competed in the 100 metre semifinals. The former Tuks junior athlete, Shaun Maswanganyi, finished sixth in his heat, running 10.10s.

- Author Wilhelm De Swardt

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