The Tuks Alumni, Akani Simbine, and lightning-fast performances in the 100m have become synonymous over the past decade.
His passion for athletics and being a South African doesn’t stop when he sprints across the finish line. Simbine wants to make a difference. So it should come as no surprise that he is the director of the Simbine Classic, which takes place at Pilditch on Tuesday.
It is a first for South African athletics: a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver Meeting is being hosted in the country. The event boasts prize money of more than R1.2 million.
In an interview with Peter Karabo, Simbine said, “For me personally, and the rest of the South African athletes taking part on Tuesday, it is a chance to compete at the highest level in front of our home crowd, which is a great opportunity for us. I’m looking forward to it.”
Several of the world’s best athletes will be in action. Everyone who knows athletics will tell you that Canada’s Andre de Grasse is one of the legends. He boasts seven Olympic medals (2 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze). He also won six medals (1 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze) at the World Championships.
Simbine is not only organising the event. He will also be competing. His duel with De Grasse is guaranteed to be a speedy affair.
The men’s shot put will be another highlight. The USA’s Josh Awatunde, who is a bronze medallist at the World Champs, is competing. His best distance of 22.42 metres was one of the three best in the world last year. Italy’s Zane Weir, an Olympic finalist, will also be in action.
Tuks’s South African champion, Marione Fourie, who is currently the fastest in the world in the 100 m hurdles (12.67s), will also be in action, as will be the South African 800m champion, Edmund du Plessis. The Tuks medical student was a semi-finalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The proud Tuks alumnus describes his experience at the University of Pretoria as follows: ‘Amazing! The facilities and support from UP have been great, equipping me to study and progress as an athlete at the same time. Completing my Bachelor of Information Science degree has allowed me to learn a lot and grow as a person. It’s provided me with a pathway outside the sports arena, and I encourage all professional sportspeople to consider it.”
Some interesting facts:
Simbine is the second South African sprinter to dip under 10 seconds in the 100 metres. He did so in 2015, running 9.99s in Slovenia. The same year, he won gold at the World Student Games in Korea, clocking 9.97s.
Last year, he became the second-fastest sprinter in African athletics history, running 9.82s. His time ranks among the 18 fastest ever over 100 metres.
Simbine won the first global major medal of his career at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, anchoring the men’s 4x100m quartet to silver. He did the same last year at the World Relays Championships in China. He won gold in the 100 metres at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia.
Last year in Botswana, Simbine ran 9.90 seconds, becoming the first athlete in history to run under 10 seconds in the 100m for 11 consecutive seasons. That surpassed Bolt’s previous record of 10.
Simbine has achieved a record-breaking 50 legal sub-10-second performances in the 100 metres at the end of last year.
