The South African record holder, Akani Simbine (TuksAthletics) predicts the records will be tumbling and it will be first race in South Africa where more than two athletes will dip under ten seconds.
The records that could possibly be rewritten in Potchefstroom are his own national record of 9.89s, the South African junior record of 10.12s and the world junior record of 9.97s.
Simbine’s confidence in his own and South Africa’s other top sprinters is certainly not unfounded especially considering what happened yesterday during the 100 metre final at the Gauteng North Championships at the TuksAthletics Stadium.
The race went down to the wire with the more experienced Simbine winning in a time of 9.92 seconds. It was the 10th time he clocked a sub ten seconds time. Thando Roto (TuksAthletics) who led for the first 70 metres was second in 9.95s. In doing so he became only the fifth South African sprinter to break through the magical 10 seconds barrier. He is also South Africa’s second fastest sprinter of all time.
