The men’s sprints are set to be the most hotly-contested in years and all the big names will line up for the SA titles, barring Anaso Jobodwana who has decided to skip the Championships this year.
In the men’s 100m, new SA-record holder Akani Simbine will headline the chase for the title and the push to go below 10-seconds again. He’ll be up against training partner and rival Henricho Bruintjies as well as youngster Gift Leotlela – the newly-crowned SA junior champion.
South Africans hold five of the current top 20 fastest times in the 100m with Simbine the world leader at the moment with his SA record of 9.96 seconds.
Four hundred metre specialist Wayde van Niekerk is second with his 9.98 “test run” time and Simbine takes third as well with the 10.01 seconds he ran in Pretoria last month.
Bruintjies, who switched coaches earlier this year, has a fastest time of 10.20 seconds and he’ll be keen to improve on that, while Leotlela’s 10.21 in Germiston last month also makes the list.
In the 200m, the race is open as Jobodwana is missing but Olympic qualifier Clarence Munyai will headline the event. Simbine may look to double up in Stellenbosch as is his plan for Rio, but it would be a test run more than anything else. Van Niekerk may run the 200m as well.
The men’s 400m is definitely one to watch as world champion Wayde van Niekerk turns out in his first major race of the season.
