ATHLETICS NEWS - The South African champion, Akani Simbine, spoiled fans over the last two years with his speedy exploits on home soil so some might have been slightly surprised by his winning time of 10.05s in the 100m during last night’s Liquid Telecom Athletics Grand Prix-meeting at Tuks.
But don’t despair. Werner Prinsloo who coaches the Tuks-athlete is confident that he will run a real fast time during next week’s South African Championships.
“I would have been worried if Akani ran 9.92s as I am a firm believer in it not how you start but how you finish. There is still a long season ahead. Because it is his first race of the season I am happy with a time of 10.05s. We don’t want to be running sub-10s races now, and by the end of the season when it matters, he battles to do so.
“Last night the focus was on executing his acceleration over the first 60 metres to perfection. During training, we worked quite hard on it as it is crucial. If Akani gets that right, he will race too fast times as his top end speed is always good. “I am confident that he will run sub-10s in the semifinal or the final of the South African Championships as the conditions for sprinting will be better. Akani tends to race better at championships as he gets faster and faster in the build-up to the final.”
