Olympic Games 4x100 metres silver medallist, Akani Simbine of South Africa, has lauded the competition between him, Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, and Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala, saying it has spurred the growth of the sprint races in Africa, and fuelled interest in the short races among young people in the continent.
Omanyala and Simbine will join some of the world’s finest sprinters in the 2025 World Relay Championship in Guangzhou, China, on Saturday and Sunday where teams will compete for places in the 2025 World Athletics Championships scheduled for Tokyo later in the year.
Simbine, who claimed bronze medal at the 2024 Olympic Games with South Africa men’s 4x100m team, said success of African athletes in the sprints shows that the continent, known for producing long distance runners, has something extra to offer to the world.
While singling out the friendly rivalry between him and Tebogo, Simbine said Omanyala and other African sprinters have brought ‘something special’ to the sprints in Africa, leading to renewed interest in the short races by the younger generation.
“There is friendly rivalry between Letsile and me. Everyone wants to beat the other when it is competition time, but Letsile has respect for me, and I have respect for him. I can see that he is doing very well and he has a great future.
I understand where he is at that stage of his career, and he sees where I am at in my career, and it’s like South Africa versus Botswana right now, but let’s not forget Ferdinand Omanyala.
He is a big name in the sprints, and he has done very well for himself and for Kenya as well, so it is not just here Down South, but the whole African sprinting story happening now which is great to see,” Simbine told journalists in a video conference call organized by World Athletics on Tuesday.
Simbine held the African record over 100m of 9.84 seconds from Gyulai István Memorial race in Hungary on July 6, 2021 until September 18, 2021, when Omanyala ran 9.77 in the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi to dethrone him.
“There is a friendly rivalry between Letsile and I, and one wants to beat the other when it is competition time. The relay culture is growing in South Africa, and I think guys are saying ‘let me just join a relay team because I have a bigger chance of getting a medal.’
We are gearing up for the World Relay Championships in a good way, and South Africa has very good teams in the 4x100m, and 4x400m.
The fact that South Africa men’s 4x400m team did very well at the World Relay Championships last year, and we the 4x100m guys did very well last year at the Olympics has given more of ‘yes’ to relays in South Africa and the culture is changing.”
South Africa took silver in men’s 4x400m relay at the 2024 World Relay Championships held in Bahamas behind gold medallists Botswana, who were led by Tebogo. However, Tebogo and key members of Botswana’s team have opted out, and will not compete this year
“It is great that we are being noticed as a sprinting continent, which is great because it is inspiring more kids to want to be sprinters and not just tapping into long distance events,” the 31-year-old gold medallist in 60m from the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships said. headlines South Africa’s team for the 2025 World Relay Championships to be held in Guangzhou, China, on Saturday and Sunday, said.
Simbine will compete in men’s 4x100m for South Africa in the biennial event, which will be held in Botswana next year.
The men’s qualifying round of the 2025 World Relay Championships, now in its seventh edition, will be held on Saturday from 3.25pm. It will be the first time the event is held in China, after previous editions in the Bahamas, Japan and Poland.
But Kenyan fans will have to wait longer to see Simbine compete in the Kenyan round of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold (Kip Keino Classic) in Nairobi.
“Unfortunately, I will not be in Nairobi (for Kip Keino Classic on May 31) this year, its not part of my plan, but I will maybe consider it next year. Kip Keino Classic is one meet that I have always wanted to compete in,” Simbine said.
Simbine, who has competed in three editions of the Olympic Games, reckons that the 2028 edition of the Games in Los Angeles might be his last. He finished fifth in 100m at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, fourth in 2020 (Tokyo), and fourth in 2024 (Paris).
He has been a World Athletics Championships finalist in men's 100m in 2017 (London, fifth), 2019 (Doha, fourth), and 2022 (Oregon, fifth), attracting the tag ‘nearly man’ which he went a big distance in shedding off by claiming silver at the 2024 Olympics with South Africa men’s 4x100m team.
“Mentally, it (claiming silver at the 2024 Olympic Games) would help, but I went into this (the Olympics) with a different mentality last year.
It was more of being content, and being in a space where I am happy as Akani the athlete, and not letting my achievement on the track define me. I know what my career has been, and what it has done to athletics. I have proven myself to be an athlete, and an elite sprinter, and I don’t need medals to prove anything extra. The medal is just the cherry on top.
‘’For me, the tag ‘nearly man’ is noise. People say I am the nearly-man, but I don’t see it like that. I have never given up on trying to be the best. I get disappointed but I always show up and do my best, but to be disappointed of being fourth in the world?
My family tells me that is a bit crazy. The medals are good and they bring confidence, but it is just the shift of mentality, and being aware of where I want to see myself, that has worked for me,” Simbine, who is a fan of English Premier League club Chelsea and South Africa’s Premier League team Orlando Pirates, said.
He has been among the world’s top sprinters for nearly a decade. What is the secret to his longevity?
“I have been taking it one season at a time, that is the big thing with me. And I have a really good team of physiotherapist, coach, and trainer so it is about having a good team that is keeping me in the game for so long.
The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics might be my last, but if the body allows, I will definitely stick around much longer because I love sports.’”
On April 19, 2025, Simbine became the only athlete in history to run a sub-10 seconds over 100m for 11 consecutive years when he won gold in 100m at the Botswana Grand Prix in Gaborone.
He won the race in 9.90, which is a world-lead for 2025.
