So near and yet so far for SA’s athletes

Some of South Africa’s elite track and field stars hope to return with a bang at next year’s Tokyo Olympics after narrowly missing out on medals at the IAAF World Championships in Doha.

Having won his 100m semifinal in 10.01 seconds on day two of the track and field showpiece, Akani Simbine (above) went on to deliver a solid performance in the final on Saturday night.

He had to settle for fourth place, however, crossing the line in 9.93 after losing touch in the chase for the line.

The Commonwealth Games champion, who matched his season’s best, was just 0.03 shy of a podium place, with bronze medallist Andre de Grasse of Canada clocking a personal best of 9.90.

US athlete Chris Coleman won gold in 9.76, running the fastest time in the world this year.

“We will come back stronger and fight harder to get on the podium, but today we showed that we can represent South Africa well on the international stage,” said Simbine, who was set to anchor the SA 4x100m team in the relay event later this week.

Meanwhile, in the long jump pit, defending champion Luvo Manyonga and African champion Ruswahl Samaai were equally competitive, but they too emerged empty-handed.

Manyonga, who landed at 8.05m or further with all six of his attempts, finished fourth with a best leap of 8.28m. He was six centimetres behind Juan Miguel Echevarria of Cuba, who grabbed the bronze medal.

Samaai was just five centimetres further back, producing a jump of 8.23m to finish fifth.

Jamaican athlete Tajay Gayle stunned the field, opening the competition with a big 8.46m leap to set the standard, and he went on to land at 8.69m in the fourth round, earning the gold medal.

“I can’t change what happened,” said Manyonga, who battled with an ankle injury this season.

“I just need to look forward to the future and come back strong.”

We will come back stronger and fight harder to get on the podium.

Akani Simbine SA 100m star