‘I’m here to take Bolt’s place’
AUDITIONS for the role as Usain Bolt’s replacement have already opened, and Akani Simbine has proven to be a major contender.
The next two months or so, will provide a few dress rehearsals ahead of Bolt’s final curtain call at the IAAF World Championships in London in August.
Simbine fired the first shot when he raced to his maiden 100m Diamond League victory in Doha almost a fortnight ago.
He beat a world-class field, which included former Jamaican world-record holder Asafa Powell, Olympic podium finishers Justin Gatlin of the US and Canadian Andre de Grasse.
“It is an opportunity with Bolt going out and I say I am here to take the spot, I already put my hand up for that spot. I believe in myself, I believe in my talent, and I believe in the team around it,” Simbine,
said yesterday. “I can back myself up when I get to the track, and I can face big names and make sure I come out on top there.”
The 23-year-old will have another opportunity to claim a big-name scalp when he races against former world champion Yohan Blake at the Boston Games next month. The South African finished fifth in the Olympic 100m final behind silver and bronze medallists Gatlin and De Grasse, respectively, while Blake dipped ahead of him in fourth place.
“A lot of the guys that will be left in the sport will try and take that spot, we have three guys who were in the final who will be competing in probably the next two or three Olympics.
“It is probably going to be us three going up against each other all the time and against those other two guys. I want to come out on top,” Simbine said.
While the season will come to a climactic ending at the world championships, Simbine will have a blinder of a date when he lines up against Bolt at the JN-Racers Grand Prix in Kingston, also next month.
Simbine will be looking to ride the wave of his early-season form, which has seen him dip below 10 seconds six times already this year, while boasting the second fastest time this year with a 9.92secs.
“I took down pretty big names in the sport (in Doha) and I think I am on the right track to where I want to be at the end of the year,” Simbine said.
“I’ve consistently run under 10s, I have won my first Diamond League. I have become the first South African to win a 100m Diamond League and I want to continue with that.”
After his Jamaican sojourn, Simbine will return to the Istvan Gyulai Memorial in Budapest, Hungary, where he set the SA record of 9.89s last year.
“That race has special memories for me, the SA record was big, but beating Powell for the first time was the real breakthrough,” Simbine said. “I always knew I could do it, but now the rest of the sprinters know it, too. Maybe I can break the record there again.”
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