New kings of the track taking over
WHEN South Africans Akani Simbine and Henricho Bruintjies placed one-two in the men’s 100m on Monday, all the talk was about Jamaican Yohan Blake’s shock bronze.
With the men’s 200m to be run tonight, the real question is whether the performances of Simbine and Bruintjies signal the emergence of a new superpower of world athletics – the South African sprinter. Simbine was born in September 1992, seven months after the historic white-only referendum which is recognised as the end of apartheid.
Bruintjies’ birthdate was July 1993, 10 months before Nelson Mandela was elected the first black
South Africa.
The significance is obvious. Simbine and Bruintjies represent the first generation of black South African athletes who have lived their entire lives free of apartheid.
They have trained and competed from the start of their careers with the full backing of government-funded pathways president of designed to give black athletes every chance of succeeding.
Some would say more than every chance. After decades of disadvantage, many of South Africa’s black athletes are being given a leg-up denied to their white counterparts.
By 2020, all South African sporting federations must field teams with at least 50 per cent black representation.