ATHLETICS NEWS - Wayde van Niekerk was just 11, Akani Simbine 10 and Clarence Munyai five years old when the great American sprinter Michael Johnson visited South Africa to conduct a coaching clinic six months out from the Athens Olympic Games.
Johnson, an eight-time world champion, could see the potential in the country back then.
But little did he know that Van Niekerk would break his 400m world record in Rio 12 years later – and then go on to emulate the American in attempting the 200-400m double.
His words back in January 2004 proved to be somewhat prophetic.
"I think that you're not even close to reaching the potential that's out there,” he said at the time.
"And hopefully I can help with that because there's a huge amount of untapped potential.
"A long-term goal would be to motivate these athletes to allow them to go out and compete at international level."
"I would be absolutely amazed if there weren't athletes here who could become world-class sprinters.”
World-class indeed. The trio of Van Niekerk, Simbine and Munyai will be in action in Monday’s 200m heats at the World Championships in London, showing just how impressive the depth of talent is in South Africa at present.
Meanwhile, eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt may not have had the finale he’d have liked in Saturday night’s 100m final in London, finishing with bronze, but he had some words of wisdom for Simbine – who finished fifth in that race.
“He was telling me I must start relaxing when I go into races because he’s noticed I actually tense myself up and I don’t enjoy the race,” said Simbine, who was seen chatting to the Jamaican as they took to the track for the 100m final.
“So he was saying I must enjoy the race because if I don’t enjoy the race then I’m losing the whole point of running. I’ve been running well the whole year so I must just come and run and enjoy it as much as I can.”
Simbine complained of a slight hip niggle after the 100m but was confident he would be fit to contest the 200m.
“I had a few muscle issues I had to deal with… I had a hip impingement. My hip wasn’t in line so I was running in pain in the heat but it’s sorted now,” he said.
Simbine will be in heat 6 at 8.10pm SA time, Van Niekerk in heat 3 at 7.46pm and Munyai in heat 7 at 8.18pm.
