Akani Simbine

Akani Simbine (born 21 September 1993) is a South African sprinter.[6] He competed in the 100 metres event at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics and 2016 Summer Olympics and he won the 2018 Commonwealth Games 100m final.[7] He finished fifth in 9.94 seconds in the 100m final of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on 14 August 2016.[8] He is the 2018 Commonwealth Games 100 metres champion.

Akani Simbine

Simbine at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Nationality	South African
Born	21 September 1993 Johannesburg, South Africa[1]
Height	176 cm (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Weight	74 kg (163 lb)[2]
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	100 m 200 m
University team	University of Pretoria - Tuks/HPC
Coached by	Werner Prinsloo[3]
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	100 m: 9.89 NR (2016)[4] 150 m: 15.08 A (2020) 200 m: 19.95 A (2017)[5][6]
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  South Africa World Relays 2019 Yokohama 4×200 m relay Commonwealth Games 2018 Gold Coast 100 m 2018 Gold Coast 4×100 m relay African Championships 2018 Asaba 100 m 2018 Asaba 4×100 m relay 2016 Durban 4×100 m relay 2016 Durban 100 m Universiade 2015 Gwangju 100 m 2015 Gwangju 4×100 m relay Representing Africa Continental Cup 2018 Ostrava 100 m

Whilst an Information Science student at University of Pretoria,[2] Simbine equaled the South African record while setting an event record on 9 July 2015 in his gold medal-winning run at the 2015 Universiade in Gwangju, South Korea.[9] Simbine broke the South African record in 100 m with a time of 9.89 seconds at the Gyulai István Memorial in Székesfehérvár on 18 July 2016.[10] In the first meet of the 2017 IAAF Diamond League in Doha, Simbine won the 100m event with a time of 9.99 seconds.[11]

Biography

Simbine started his 2020 season with a 150 m race at the University of Johannesburg Stadium on 14 February, equaling the South African record time (15.08) while jogging to the finish line.[12][13] He ran his first 100 m for the season on 14 March at the University of Pretoria Tuks Stadium. Unsure whether or not he would be able to compete later in the season because of the rapidly spreading COVID-19 pandemic, he pushed all the way to the finish line in a world-leading time of 9.91 seconds in the heats.[14]

Statistics

Information from World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.[6]

Personal bests

Event	Time (s)	Wind (m/s)	Venue	Date	Notes
100 m	9.89	+1.9	Székesfehérvár, Hungary	18 July 2016	NR
150 m	15.08 A	NWI	Johannesburg, South Africa	15 February 2020	Altitude-assisted, no wind information
200 m	19.95 A	+1.7	Pretoria, South Africa	4 March 2017	Altitude-assisted
4×100 m relay	38.24	N/A	Gold Coast, Australia	14 April 2018	NR[note 1]
4×200 m relay	1:20.42	N/A	Yokohama, Japan	12 May 2019	NR[note 2]

International championship results

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Time	Wind	Notes
Representing  South Africa and Africa (Continental Cup only)
2013	Universiade	Kazan, Russia	9th	100 m	10.49	−0.4
			7th	4×100 m relay	45.82	N/A
	World Championships	Moscow, Russia	7th	100 m	10.38	−0.3
2014	Commonwealth Games	Glasgow, Scotland	11th	100 m	10.21	−0.5
			5th	200 m	20.37	+0.5	PB
			4th	4 × 100 m relay	38.35	N/A	NR, PB
	African Championships	Marrakesh, Morocco	8th	100 m	13.14	+0.4
2015	Universiade	Gwangju, Korea	1st	100 m	9.97	0.0	NR, GR, PB
			3rd	4×100 m relay	39.68	N/A	[15]
	World Championships	Beijing, China	11th	100 m	10.02	+0.9
			17th	200 m	20.37	+0.4
			DNF (semi 2)	4×100 m relay	—	N/A
2016	African Championships	Durban, Africa	3rd	100 m	10.05 w	+2.4	Wind-assisted
			1st	4×100 m relay	38.84	N/A
	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	5th	100 m	9.94	+0.2
2017	World Championships	London, England	5th	100 m	10.01	−0.8
			18th	200 m	20.62 w	+2.1	Wind-assisted
2018	Commonwealth Games	Gold Coast, Australia	1st	100 m	10.03	+0.8	SB
			2nd	4×100 m relay	38.24	N/A	NR, PB
	African Championships	Asaba, Nigeria	1st	100 m	10.25	−2.1	[16]
			1st	4×100 m relay	38.25	N/A	[16]
	Continental Cup	Ostrava, Czech Republic	3rd	100 m	10.11	0.0
			DNF	4×100 m relay	—	N/A
2019	World Relays	Yokohama, Japan	9th	4×100 m relay	38.66	N/A
			2nd	4×200 m relay	1:20.42	N/A	NR, PB
	World Championships	Doha, Qatar	4th	100 m	9.93	+0.6

100 m circuit wins

• Diamond League
  • Doha: 2017
  • London: 2019

National titles

• South African Championships
  • 100 m: 2015, 2017
  • 200 m: 2019

Seasonal bests

Year	100 m	200 m
2010	10.61	21.91
2011	10.57	21.27
2012	10.19	20.68
2013	10.36	20.79
2014	10.02	20.37
2015	9.97	20.23
2016	9.89	20.16
2017	9.92	19.95
2018	9.93	—
2019	9.92	20.27
2020	9.91 A	—

Notes

1. Shared with Henricho Bruintjies, Emile Erasmus, and Anaso Jobodwana for South Africa.
2. Shared with Simon Magakwe, Chederick van Wyk, and Sinesipho Dambile for South Africa.

References

1. "2018 CWG bio". Retrieved 28 April 2018.
2. "SIMBINE Akani". gwangju2015.kr. 2015 Summer Universiade. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
3. Breakfast, Siviwe (28 June 2018). "IAAF Diamond League: Simbine faces tough field in 100m". thesouthafrican.com. The South African. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
4. Mohamed, Ashfak (18 July 2016). "Simbine breaks SA 100m record!". iol.co.za. Independent Online. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
5. "Simbine makes history, runs fastest 100m in SA". sport24.co.za. News24. 6 March 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
6. "ATHLETE PROFILE Akani SIMBINE". worldathletics.org. World Athletics. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
7. "South Africa at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics". IAAF. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
8. "Bolt blasts to 100m gold hat-trick". Retrieved 29 August 2016.
9. "Universiade 2015 Broken Records". gwangju2015.com. 9 July 2015. Archived from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
10. Christopher Maduewesi (18 July 2016). "Akani Simbine storms to new South African 100m record of 9.89s!". makingofchamps.com. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
11. "Akani Simbine streaks to victory in Doha! | IOL". Retrieved 6 May 2017.
12. "Semenya and Simbine begin new season with a bang". iol.co.za. Independent Online (IOL)/African News Agency. 18 February 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
13. "Akani Simbine EQUALS 150m SA RECORD!!". backtrack.co.za. BackTrack Sports. 15 February 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
14. Isaacson, David (14 March 2020). "Akani Simbine runs 100m like hes at the Olympics". times.co.za. The Times. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
15. "Medallists by event" (PDF). fisu.net. International University Sports Federation. 12 July 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
16. "African championships, Asaba (Nigeria)". africathle.com. Africathle. 5 August 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2019.

External links

• Akani Simbine at World Athletics
• Akani Simbine at the Commonwealth Games Federation
• Akani Simbine at the International Olympic Committee
• Akani Simbine at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)