Werner Prinsloo, his coach, said that once Simbine is at full speed he can keep up with the world’s best and even outrun them, but if he wants to be a truly top international sprinter he will have to improve his start.
“Another thing Akani will need to focus on is his mental preparation. It is important that he should arrive in Rio with the right mind-set. He has to believe in his abilities as a sprinter. He still seems to have a little bit of self-doubt at times and there is no need for it. He is a good sprinter.”
The Tuks/HPC athlete will compete in only two more meetings before the Games. The first will be the Diamond League meeting on 15 July in Monaco. He also plans to compete in Budapest on 18 July where he will run the 100m as well as the 200m.
Prinsloo reiterated that it is equally important for Simbine to take part in the 200m as in the 100m.
“I have no doubt that Akani has the ability to run a time faster than 20 seconds in the 200m. Again it will be important to make sure that he gets off to a good start in the 200m. Because he is a shorter athlete it means that he needs to run slightly harder than the taller athletes but once he reaches his top speed there is no stopping him.
“The only reason why he withdrew from competing in the 200m at the African Games in Durban was that he was feeling slightly unwell. I think it was because he was still suffering from jetlag after the long flight from Boston to South Africa.”
According to Prinsloo they will be based in Italy from next week in the build-up to the Games.
Carina Horn (Tuks/HPC), who ran 11.07s at the African Championships, just missing out on breaking the SA record, is excited about the times she might be running during the next few weeks.
