Nervous Simbine just wants to run
FOCUS: STAR TO COMPETE IN 100M AND 200M IN LONDON
Wesley Bo on
Aiming to chase down the world’s fastest men this year, Akani Simbine admits he is nervous to get his season underway this weekend. During a spectacular 2016 campaign, Simbine lowered the national 100m record to 9.89 seconds and finished fifth in the Olympic final, 0.03 outside a podium place.
The 23-year-old sprinter was set to open his 2017 racing programme in the 100m contest at today’s provincial league meeting hosted by Tuks, in an anticipated battle against training partner and former SA record-holder Henricho Bruintjies.
“In your first race there’s always jitters because you’re unsure of where you are from a competition aspect, but I’m very confident in the training I’ve done,” Simbine said yesterday.
“I’m just hoping I can use this race to push myself forward.”
After clocking a 20.16 personal best in the 200m event last year, Simbine confirmed he would again focus on both distances ahead of the World Championships in London in August, eager to take further strides after reaching the 100m and 200m semifinals at the previous edition of the 2015 event in Beijing.
Over the next couple of months his schedule will incorporate the last two legs of the ASA Speed Series, as well as the sprint double at the Gauteng North Championships and the SA Championships. He opens his international campaign at the first leg of the Diamond League series in Doha in May.
For now, however, his attention was on technique and phases in his first competitive outing.
“I want to finish the race properly and feel how my body reacts over the first 60m, trying to activate that muscle memory,” Simbine said.
The entry lists for today’s league meeting also featured 400m hurdles stars LJ van Zyl, Cornel Fredericks and Wenda Nel.