DOHA – Though they narrowly missed out on medals in the end, three South African athletes were locked in the thick of battle on Saturday's Day 2 of the IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar on Saturday night.
African champion Akani Simbine put up a fight in the men's 100m event. This after winning his heat and semifinal, clocking 10.01 seconds in both races, Simbine went on to finish fourth in the final in 9.93.
He was just 0.04 outside his national record and 0.03 shy of a place on the podium. Pre-race favourite Christian Coleman of the United States stormed to victory, clinching gold in 9.76.
After both athletes earned medals at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London, Luvo Manyonga and Ruswahl Samaai narrowly missed out on a repeat in the men's long jump final. Manyonga took fourth place with a best attempt of 8.28 metres - just six centimetres short of the bronze medal - and Samaai ended fifth with a jump of 8.23m.
Tajay Gayle of Jamaica won gold, producing a massive Personal Best of 8.69m in the fourth round.
Marc Mundell finished 24th in the men's 50km walk in tough, humid conditions in 4:41:39. Local favourite Yusuke Suzuki won the race in 4:04:23.
Earlier, in the men's 800m heats, Tshepo Tshite grabbed the third spot in his race in 1:46.54, booking his place in the semifinals to be held on Sunday (today).
In the first round of the women's 100m event, Tebogo Mamatu finished sixth in her heat in 11.42, missing out on a place in the penultimate round by 0.11.
Monday's Day 3 schedule for SA athletes (SA times):
7.13pm: men's 200m, heats (Anaso Jobodwana)
7.45pm: men's 200m, heats (Clarence Munyai)
9.05pm: men's 800m, semifinals (Tshepo Tshite)