The world of sprinting is a very cutthroat one. Legends are made by mere hundredths of a second, Akani Simbine has been able to keep cool, calm, collected, and very consistent. He has also managed to make not just South Africa proud but the whole African continent as well. Not only is he South Africa’s fastest sprinter but also one of very few sprinters outside the Caribbean and United States to truly challenge the true world’s elite in the 100m.
Born on September 21, 1993, in Johannesburg, Akani Simbine did not get his results through privilege but rather by focus and effort as well as raw, running desire. Most youth in South Africa find their way onto soccer or rugby pitches; Simbine found out he had a gift for pure speed.
He first rose to international prominence in 2014 at the Commonwealth Games relays, but it was in the individual 100-meter sprint that he truly shone and therein lies where his legacy began to take form.
Simbine holds the South African 100-meter record at a blazing 9.84 seconds set in 2021. That figures him among the fastest men ever, one of just a handful of performers who have been able to dip under 9.90 seconds when it really matters.
It is unmatched, and he has secured a place on the world sprinting stage going toe to toe with Christian Coleman, Fred Kerley, and other eminent stars from the Olympics. In an event where for so long Caribbean and American sprinters have so dominated, Simbine has become a trailblazer from the continent of Africa proving that African speed does indeed deserve to be up on that podium.
Where most sprinters have only run for one season and then gone, Simbine is quite the other. He stays in, year after year, championship after championship-consistently clocking great times making the finals-consistently a threat for medals. His best finishes are in the 100m final at the 2016 Rio Olympics (5th place), at the World Championships in London (4th place), and at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics (5th place).
- Commonwealth Games Gold 2018 He may not have an Olympic medal to his name yet, but undoubtedly he is the most consistent performer. Making finals in major games asserts that he belongs right up there with the best in business.
Chasing the Next Frontier: Breaking 9.80 Seconds Very few sprinters in history have gone below 9.80 seconds. With a personal best just 0.04 seconds short of that mark, Simbine still poses a real threat to that barrier.
Also, Simbine is not finished. With maturity, with technique in fine-tuned adjustment, with a steady team plus the best infrastructure in the world she’s got the tools to get into that territory reserved for legends. Chasing time is not just about pure speed. It’s evolution. Mental strength. Discipline – and believing that Africa can produce record-breaking athletes too.
Simbine is not only an athlete but a mentor and a voice for the next generation in the country’s underfunded athletics ecosystem. He supports youth development initiatives through the Akani Foundation which also provides mentoring and lobbying for better structures in sports and education, hence conveying the message that greatness is not defined by gold medals- it is defined by giving others a path to follow their dreams.
Akani Simbine is more than a sprinter. He is a national asset, he is an ambassador of the continent, and he is a challenger to the rest of the world. With every hissing start, with every smooth leg flowing over the track, and with every below-10-minute performance, he’s getting closer not just to a medal but to redefining what African sprinting means to the world.
Whether or not he finally breaks the world record, one thing is certain: he’s heading for history.
