The fact that South Africa are world champions in relay running is a case of a plan coming together, and there’s every reason to be positive that the class of 2026 will prove as successful as that of 2025 – and the future will get even brighter as we target the 2028 and 2032 Olympics.
Athletics South Africa (ASA) recently held a training camp for 32 track athletes to align ahead of upcoming future events, with the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone at the beginning of May the immediate target. It is an important qualifying event for next year’s World Athletics Championships in Beijing.
Last year, South Africa laid down their marker as one of the premier relay-racing countries around when the country won gold in both the men’s 4x100m and 4x400m and took bronze in the women’s 4x400m. Strength in depth and preparation proved were instrumental in the success of the team – with new talent and experience campaigners rising to the top.
SASCOC’s General Manager High Performance, Leon Fleiser, is excited about the country’s relay prospects.
“It was after the Tokyo Olympics (in 2021) when we sat down with ASA and outlined a path forward and what we wanted to build towards,” Fleiser said of the growth in the relays. “Akani Simbine has been an absolute superstar who has appeared in three Olympic 100m individual finals but had not quite been able to win a medal. With input of all relevant stakeholders – administrators, coaches and the athletes, we came up with a plan that targeted major medals in the relays going forward. Akani was at the forefront of this plan, as the elder statesman. And we were happy to see fruits of this at the 2024 Paris Olympics, when Team SA won the silver medal in the 4x100m. He was then leader when the men won 4x100m gold in Guangzhou last year.”
The first training camp of 2026 was made possible by funding from the IOC’s Olympic Solidarity global development initiative, and funds also were supplied by the South African Sports Confederation, Olympic and Paralympic Committee (SASCOC) and the Bidvest Operation Excellence (OPEX) programme.
“We are building our relay squad system and are excited that we have two of our best-ever athletes – and international stars – at the forefront. Akani has shown his value as the leader of the youngsters coming through in the shorter sprints, while Wayde van Niekerk has committed to the 4x400m relays. It’s a huge injection for what lies ahead and we at SASCOC are here to support them all the way,” Fleiser said.
“It’s also exciting that we haven’t stopped our ambition with the men’s 4×100, 4×400 and women’s 4×400. The longer-term plan is for us to be as competitive in the women’s 4x100m and the mixed relays as well. We are building for the 2028 and 2032 Olympics and even beyond. While we have a healthy pool of sprinters, our strength will lie in the depth of them; and this is where we have strategised that our best chances of Olympic medals will lie. Of course, we want all the athletes to be the very best versions of themselves, and successful in their individual careers, but we’re fully behind supporting them all as a relay collective,” Fleiser added.
ASA High Performance manager Hezekiel Sepeng said: “We will have a second camp leading up to World Relays. It will be after the ASA Senior Championships (in Stellenbosch from 16-18 April). And we will probably have preparation races at the Simbine Classic (a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting to be held in Tshwane on 28 April) before we depart for Gaborone on 29 April.”
Photo: South African athletes with their medals at the 2025 World Athletics Relay Championships/Getty Images
