South African sprinting has been injected with a deep pool of young talent this year. Abduraghmaan Karriem is the latest of this group to emerge onto the world stage when he recently competed in Stockholm, for his debut Diamond League event, writes MARK LEMKE.
The 20-year-old is on his first European tour and has ticked every box he had for the year and with half the year still to go, he is now looking to achieve as many bonuses as he can and continue his rise.
Karriem has steadily been building towards earning this tour through impressive performances on home soil. He set a personal best in the 200m at the South African Championships in April with a time of 20.15sec, which places him 29th in the world based this year. That run led to this European tour, which began with a race in Italy at the beginning of June.
“This has been my first time travelling overseas and it has been a great experience. Sweden has been my favourite country so far and running in the Diamond League was a dream come true.”
His debut in Stockholm came at short notice but by no favour. His consistently high performances throughout his travels caught the eye and with a spot available in the Swedish capital, Karriem received an invite.
“I was given the opportunity to run less than two weeks before I did. While I have been touring, I set a 10.06sec in the 100m, which is a personal best, and I followed it up in the next race with a 10.11sec. They said that I have been running well and wanted to see what I could do with this opportunity. It was a feeling like no other to be in that stadium and hear 40 000 people cheering for me, even though they had no idea who I was.”
The fans may not have known who he was before the race, but his solid fifth place finish in the 200m has certainly put him on the map. He is not done overseas just yet as he has a jampacked July which sees him compete in Sweden, France, Switzerland and Austria. Then, it will be time to plot out the rest of 2025, with September’s World Championships on his radar.
“The qualifying mark to get to the World Championships is 20.08sec in the 200m. If I don’t hit that this year, that is okay. It is not something I am stressed about. I have hit my targets for this year with times and the events I have competed in. It would be great to qualify for Worlds, but it would be a bonus for the year.”
The back-to-back Western Province champion has had a dream 2025, and at only 20, his target of 20.08 is a matter of when, not if. For now, Karriem, who used to be a provincial table-tennis player, is not putting unnecessary weight on his shoulders and is focused on enjoying the ride.
“A lot of athletes want to have the legacy of breaking Usain Bolt’s records. I want to be remembered as one of the guys that nearly broke them, because that group of runners are at the top of the list for all-time greats. I am staying focused on myself, and I am always looking to improve. The biggest goals for the next few years are the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.”
Karriem is proving to be one of South Africa’s biggest sprinting talents. The 2025 World Championships in Tokyo could be his next big step, but an appearance in next year’s Commonwealth Games is a definite goal and would provide a good boost towards his dream of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
