Athletics South Africa’s Head of Performance, Hezekiel Sepeng, is confident that the current crop of South African sprinters, including Akani Simbine and Bayanda Walaza, will be strong medal candidates at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Simbine, a three-time Olympic 100m finalist, is the elder statesman of a generation of sprinters who won silver in the 4x100m at the Paris 2024 Games and gold in the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou.
“The athletes are doing very well. If you go back a few years, if you compare it to now, we’re sitting with athletes now that are, come 2028, possible medallists. We are one step ahead of the other countries. But it’s only a matter of planning because the main goal here is the September World Champs in Tokyo,” Sepeng told SportsBoom.co.za.
“The relationship between the athletes and the federation is in the right space. We listen to the athletes, and they share their goals with us. We needed to blend together. We need to get to that level where we are definitely confident for medals at the World Champs or the Olympics in 2028.”
Simbine’s success has since inspired the likes of Shaun Maswangayi, Walaza, Bradley Nkoana and Sinesipho Dambile.
If you look at 2016, where we had Caster (Semenya), Luvo Manyonga and Wayde (Van Niekerk), they were medallists at the Olympic Games and World Champs. After them, it faded. We introduced the relays because we thought that we could fast-track some of the athletes who cannot make the qualifying standards,” said Sepeng.
“We thought, let’s put them in the relay, they can still go to World Champs in the relays and that kind of motivated them. I think one of the things that really motivated them was the four-by-one relays at the Olympic Games with the two young stars.”
Despite all the success, Sepeng emphasised that the real goal is the World Champs in Tokyo in September, where Simbine and the team are expected to dominate.
With the South African athletes having been incredibly active, Sepeng highlighted the imminent need for a break to train and condition the athletes for the World Champs.
Sepeng reiterated their need to sharpen up their imperfect relays so as to stand a chance in Tokyo in September.
“For the relays, I think we’re going to go into a training camp again just prior to World Champs and make sure that we fine-tune. In the 4x100m men’s, we need to make sure that our changeovers are smooth. We know that America is going to come out, Jamaica will be there, Great Britain, Japan and Canada will also be there. So, everybody will need to be in top shape,” said Sepeng.
“Individually, the athletes who are running in the Diamond Leagues know that it’s a long season. The World Champs are in September, and they will have to take a break. They cannot participate from March all the way to September.”
Words: https://www.sportsboom.co.za/olympics
