It’s time to light up the track
All systems go for this country’s lightning brigade
● It’s as if somebody flipped a switch. All of a sudden South Africa’s sprinters are talking about the 4x100m relay.
And they’re excited about their chances at the Commonwealth Games.
The country’s lightning brigade started practising their handovers soon after landing in Gold Coast this past week, and they’ve already settled on the lineup.
Henricho Bruintjies to Anaso Jobodwana to Clarence Munyai to Akani Simbine.
The talk in recent times is how South Africa is the emerging sprint capital of the world, and they want to live up to the hype.
But talk is cheap. With injured Wayde van Niekerk out of action, it’s up to the likes of Simbine, Jobodwana and Munyai to keep SA on the sprint map.
“We are aiming for gold as a team,” Simbine said. “It’s an opportunity to finally solidify ourselves as a sprinting nation.
“People have been saying South Africa is the emerging sprinting nation, so now we have the opportunity to back it up and put our foot down in the world of sprinting. We’re really confident about doing that.”
SA’s relay has been a non-entity since the last Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, when Simbine and Bruintjies were part of the crew that cracked the 38.35sec national record as they ended fourth.
At the world championships the following year, the baton didn’t get out of Bruintjies’s hand, when he was unable to reach Jobodwana because of a poorly calculated changeover technique.
They were unable to assemble the next two seasons, and even before departing for Australia.
But now it’s all systems go. The foursome and reserves were practising handovers soon after they arrived in Gold Coast this week. They all have something to prove.
Even without injured Wayde van Niekerk, they’re in the shadow of their world champion comrades Caster Semenya and Luvo Manyonga.
Simbine has collected more fifth places than he’d care to remember.
He was fifth in the 100m at last year’s world championships, fifth in the 100m at the Rio Games the year before and fifth in the 200m at Glasgow 2014.
Time to step onto the podium.
“It’s something that I know I have to do. I know I have to go out there and perform. I know if I give my best performance, a medal will come out of that,” said Simbine, who was scheduled to compete in the 100m heats and semifinals this morning (SA time).
The key, he says, is focusing on the process, not the podium. “I can’t just eat a cake that’s not done. It’s baking the cake, baking the cake, and then making sure I eat it.”
Jobodwana, since winning the 200m world championship bronze in 2015, has spent two seasons in the wilderness, first because of a pelvic injury and then a mental block over the fear of breaking down again.
A surprise finalist at the 2012 Olympics, Jobodwana missed the last Commonwealth showpiece because of a hernia.
“You want to come to a championship ready; and not even a hint of doubt about your body,” said Jobodwana, who rolls into action in the 200m on Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s the first championship that’s been so early [in the season] for me so it’s very nerve-wracking, but it’s also exciting.”
Munyai, who recently set the 19.69sec SA 200m record, has yet to prove he can perform under the pressure of competition.
With the relay heats set for Friday morning, barely 13 hours after the 200m final the previous night, there’s a possibility Jobodwana and Munyai might sit out the heats, or even Saturday’s final, if they haven’t recovered. In that case, Emile Erasmus will come in for Jobodwana and 110m hurdler Antonio Alkana for Munyai.
Jobodwana is confident either way. “I think honestly we stand a chance of getting a gold, with or without me.”
Bruintjies has flown under the radar since improving the SA 100m record to 9.97 in 2015, but he’s eager to change that.
“I’m just coming in here wanting to get into the final [of the 100m] and anything can happen in the final.
“Definitely we’re looking at the relay medal. We’re just here to come and collect the gold, and then we’re out of here,” he added with a laugh. “We have to stay focused.”
Erasmus believes he has the temperament to handle the pressure if called upon. “I love the sport so much that nerves aren’t actually a factor. I know what I have to do.”
It’s time to light up the track.
We’re aiming for gold as a team. It’s an opportunity to solidify ourselves as a sprinting nation
Akani Simbine Sprinter
I think honestly we stand a chance of getting a gold Anaso Jobodwana Sprinter