South African athletics enjoyed its most profitable return in relay history when they topped the medals table at the 2025 World Athletics Relays, in Guangzhou, China. They closed with two gold medals and a bronze, and were the only country to have won more than one gold medal.
“Once I got the baton and I saw that USA was in front of us, I just said to myself, ‘I need to catch the guy in front’,” Simbine, the poster of South African sprinting, said. “I knew I could do it, and I just chased him. I feed from chasing, I feed from being able to chase. So it’s really great to be able to be in that position and get through it and get to the line first.”
The garlanded three-time Olympic 100m finalist paid tribute to his teammates, suggesting that team work makes the dream work. “First and foremost, it’s team camaraderie,” said Simbine when asked about the art of relay running. “If a team actually get along, then they are able to make it work.
“The big thing with the placing of the guys – everybody wants to be the anchor, because they feel like the anchor gets all the limelight,” he adds, explaining what makes a successful relay team. “But every position works with different strengths, and every athlete has different strengths. As a coach, when you’re putting together a team, it’s putting together the guys according to their strengths and not according to egos.
“You can have the fastest guys in the world at that time running, but if you don’t get the stick around, and you don’t have the guys in their best positions running, then it’s not going to work out.”
South Africa’s history at World Relay Championships since the event debuted in 2014.
2014 Nassau: Did not compete
2015 Nassau: Did not compete
2017 Nassau : Did not compete
2019 Yokohama
Silver: The men’s 4x200m team of Simon Magakwe, Chederick van Wyk, Sinesipho Dambile and Akani Simbine took silver behind the United States, clocking an African record 1min 20.42sec in the process.
2021 Chorzow: Sent a team, no medals
2024 Nassau
Silver: The men’s 4x400m team of Gardeo Isaacs, Zakithi Nene, Antonie Nortje and Lythe Pillay took silver behind Botswana, clocking 3:00.75.
2025 Guangzhou
Gold: The men’s 4x100m team of Bayanda Walaza, Sinesipho Dambile, Bradley Nkoiana and Akani Simbine won gold, clocking 37.61 to beat the United States.
Gold: The men’s 4x400m team of Gardeo Isaacs, Udeme Okon, Leendert Koekemoer and Zakithi Nene won gold, clocking 2:57.50.
Bronze: The women’s 4x400m team of Shorley Nekhubui, Miranda Coetzee, Precious Molepo and Aeney van der Walt won bronze, clocking a South African record 3:24.84.
Photo: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
