NATIONAL NEWS - South Africa’s top male sprinters have managed to break all the “magical barriers” over the last two years. All but one, running a sub 10 second 100 metre race at sea level in South Africa.
The big question is will it happen on Friday at the South African Championships in Stellenbosch.
Simon Magakwe became South Africa’s proverbial sprinting pioneer in 2014 when he won the national title in 9.98s in Pretoria.
In March Akani Simbine (Tuks/HPC) set a new South African 100m record in Pretoria, winning in 9.96s. Wayde van Niekerk (Kovsies) ran 9.98s in Bloemfontein.
Simbine is the only sprinter who has managed to run a sub ten second race at sea level. He did so last year in July when he won the gold medal in 9.97s at the World Student Games in Gwangju, South Korea.
This season he has only raced twice. Apart from his record breaking effort during the ASA Night Series-meeting at Pilditch, he won the 100 metres at the Gauteng North Championship in 10.01s at the same venue.
These two performances might lead many to believe that it is a foregone conclusion that his winning time will be faster than 10 seconds at the South African Championship on Friday.
