Akani SImbine says that he “never stopped believing” and at the age of 31 is basking in the glory of the bronze medal he won at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Nanjing, China.
Simbine’s near misses in major global championships include fifth (Rio 2016), fifth (London 2017), fourth (Doha 2019), fourth (Tokyo 2021), fifth Eugene (2022) and fourth Paris (2024). These all relate to the Olympics and outdoor World Championships. He is a multiple national champion and 100m African record holder, with a personal best of 9.84 seconds.
He has won individual gold and silver in the 100m at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and 2022, but these fall outside of his efforts at the World Championships and Olympics.
The popular South African sprinter claimed the World Indoor bronze in 6.54sec, with gold going to Great Britain’s Jeremiah Azu (6.49) and silver to Australian Lachlan Kennedy (6.50).
Afterwards he said: “Never stop believing in yourself. Never stop believing in the dream you had when you started running. I have been an an athlete who has been running and making finals, placing fourth and just missing out on medals and I never gave up.
“I always pushed and I always believed. So, to the kids, keep on believing in yourself and enjoying yourself. See the sport as a sport and enjoy it. Keep on growing with the sport because when you enjoy it you will grow and that will give you a lot of fun and longevity.
Simbine is now one of the senior statesmen in the sprinting world, but he is in no mood to hang up his spikes, and in fact is showing some of the best form of his distinguished career.
“We will see where the career still goes. I’m enjoying running. I feel young, I feel fresh. I don’t know about another 10 years but we’ll see!”
