Simbine motivated by hard lessons to step on Olympics podium
Sprinter says his approach will be different for this year’s Games in Paris
Ahead of the Paris Olympic Games later this year, SA sprinter Akani Simbine has his eyes set on a podium finish as he reveals he is taking a different approach this time around.
Simbine has had several close calls during recent Games as medals continued to elude him. He missed winning a medal in Tokyo when he finished fourth in the 100m in 9.93.
At the Rio Olympics in 2016, he finished fifth, and was also disqualified at the World Championships in Budapest last year after false-starting in the semifinals.
“I’m just taking a different approach to it. This time I’ve accepted that it is a big event, but I’m going there to race,” Simbine told the media during a recent JP Morgan Corporate Challenge.
“I race all the time and I can’t put pressure on myself because of the title of the event.
“At the end of the day, I’m still going to race 100m, I’m still going to step on the line with the guys I stepped on the line with.
“So, for me doing the same thing that I’ve been doing every day is just a different event and now is the Olympic Games, which has some words to it, but that’s not a weight that I should put on myself.
“But more of something like I should be okay with.”
Simbine, 30, says he learned a lot of lessons in the past and he is motivated to get a podium finish at the Games.
“A lot of lessons learned, but at the same time, a lot of motivation and a lot of drive,” he said.
“I came into the sport as someone I didn’t know and I was fortunate enough to have quickly adjusted, but me not getting a medal was me learning the sport and I appreciate it.
“Now I am at a point where I have done this thing. I’ve gone through the near-misses, I’ve gone through placing fourth, I’ve gone through getting disqualified and now for me, is like coming full circle to say I’ve done everything I can do in the sport.
“Now is the time to kick off the one thing and that is to step on the podium.”