After a rapid spike in South African sprint performance over a five-year period, the discipline has taken a dent in the last few seasons, but it looks like that slump could be over soon. In 2014, Simon Magakwe became the first SA man to run under 10 seconds in the 100m sprint, and since then Akani Simbine, Wayde van Niekerk, Anaso Jobodwana, Henricho Bruintjies, Thando Roto, Clarence Munyai and Gift Leotlela have set the domestic standard. new heights over distances ranging from 100m to 400m, with Carina Horn and Caster Semenya also raising the bar…
After a rapid spike in South African sprint performance over a five-year period, the discipline has taken a dent in the last few seasons, but it looks like that slump could be over soon.
In 2014, Simon Magakwe became the first SA man to run under 10 seconds in the 100m sprint, and since then Akani Simbine, Wayde van Niekerk, Anaso Jobodwana, Henricho Bruintjies, Thando Roto, Clarence Munyai and Gift Leotlela have set the domestic standard. new heights over distances ranging from 100m to 400m, with Carina Horn and Caster Semenya also raising the bar among the nation’s elite women.
However, due to the prolonged national lockdown and a seemingly endless list of injuries, times have declined in recent seasons.
While Simbine broke the national 100m record last year and finished fourth in the Olympics, the likes of Van Niekerk, Bruintjies, Roto and Munyai have all struggled with niggles that set them aside for a long time.
Even without some of the fastest men in the country, the national team managed to win gold in the 4x100m at the World Relay Championship last season.
And with Simbine setting the pace up front in 2021, it was promising to see the return of Gift Leotlela, who came back into shape, while Munyai and Bruintjies would both be in excellent shape for the first-class athletics campaign, and Van Niekerk will stand eager to get back to his best.
Add to that the emergence of Shaun Maswanganyi, who has cemented his place as one of the fastest athletes on the American collegiate circuit, and some extremely talented junior prospects (the SA U-20 team shattered the world record junior 4x100m relay last year) and the 2022 season could well be one of the best in South African sprinting history.
With the SA track and field squad failing to make it to the podium in the latest editions of the Olympics and World Championships, having a strong sprint contingent with enough depth to produce world-class relay teams will go a long way toward avoiding that drought. to end.
The national team, led by Simbine, should be chasing individual and relay medals at the World Championships in Athletics this year.
We won’t know for sure until the 2022 campaign gains momentum, but on paper, there’s a lot to shout about in terms of sprinting.
That potential just needs to be converted from paper to the track.