JOHANNESBURG - Joining the exclusive ‘sub-dub club’ Akani Simbine emerged as a strong medal contender at the 2017 IAAF World Championships after he became the first South African to dip under 10 seconds in the 100m and 20 seconds in the 200m on the same day.
The Olympic finalist highlighted his class at an Athletics Gauteng North league meeting on Saturday when he first posted the fastest 100m on home soil clocking 9.93 seconds before dipping below 20 seconds in the half-lap sprint with a time of 19.95secs just two hours apart.
It was the first time Simbine posted a sub-20 second time, becoming only the seventh man in history to run sub-10 and -20 times in one day.
To add to the historic day, fellow Olympian Clarence Munyai broke Riaan Dempers’ 22-year-old junior national 200m record setting a new African mark of 20.10 seconds finishing second behind Simbine.
Running in the lane next to him in the 100m race in the morning, Munyai came painstakingly close to breaking Simbine’s national junior record with a time of 10.20 seconds, just 0.01sec short of mark.
It was a bittersweet day for Dempers, who turned 40 on Saturday conceding the record he set in Germiston back in 1995.
Taking to social media, the former junior phenom congratulated Munyai on his achievement and recalled the day he set the national junior mark which lead to an interview with Amor Vittone and a steak at Spur.
Perfect conditions convinced Simbine to add the half-lap sprint to his programme which allowed the national 100m record-holder to strike twice in one day.
“It wasn't a priority to run a world lead or to run the fastest time in South Africa, I just wanted to put together my race and start the season with a well-put-together race,” Simbine said.
“There is a whole lot more in the tank, and still a lot more to put into the tank, so I am really excited and keen for the next coming sessions and the upcoming races because I am excited to see what I can do.”
This was the same track where Simbine made his first major leap in senior athletics when he finished second behind South Africa’s first sub-10 second man, Simon Magakwe at the South African Championships in 2014.
Simbine was left bitterly disappointed on that day when he stopped short of dipping below the magical mark with a time of 10.02 seconds which was also faster than the previous national mark of 10.06secs.
“That 10.02secs will always be that race that started things off for me, before that I had the 10.19 and there was nothing about it, it was just a junior record,” Simbine said.
“It shifted things for me in terms of me getting an Adidas deal, and getting in the top 20 in the world to top-5 now.
“That started my career off and I will always be grateful for this track and every time I run here, it will be something special because great times will come out of it.”
Since then Simbine has become the country’s top 100m sprinter establishing himself as the official sub-10 second man with Saturday’s race marking it the eighth time he has done so.
The time was just 0.04secs slower than the South African record he clocked before the Rio Olympics where he finished in a creditable fifth place.
Dipping below 20 seconds for the first time, Simbine stopped the clock just 0.08secs short of Anaso Jobodwana’s national record launching him into third place on South Africa’s all-time list.
Simbine gave Munyai a glowing review after the youngster pushed him in both races leading the 200m event with 50 metres to go.
“I don’t see Clarence as a youngster anymore, he is a competitor every time he lines up next to me, the same as Usain Bolt of Justin Gatlin,” Simbine said.
Meanwhile, on Friday the country’s depth of talent in the sprint events was again highlighted when Munyai’s training partners Thando Roto and fellow Olympian Gift Leotlela posted fast times at the Varsity Cup meeting in Potchefstroom.
Roto smashed his 100m personal best by 0.09sec to clock 10.18secs while Leotlela posted his second fastest time over the 200m with a season’s opener of 20.50secs.