Cameroonian sprinter Emmanuel Eseme claimed the big prize in the inaugural Simbine Classic 2026 at the Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria when he won the men’s 100m, the last event of what was a gloriously successful day’s athletics.
Eseme won in 10.03 seconds, which was 0.03 seconds ahead of the USA’s Pjai Austin (10.06), with Canada’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic 200m gold medallist Andre De Grass third in 10.08.
The man of the moment, Akani Simbine, limped over the finish line at the back of the field in 11.16, but his immediate interaction with people, including the Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie, didn’t point it to being a serious injury. It was later confirmed that he had suffered cramp and he will still compete in the World Relays in Gaborone this coming weekend.
Although De Grasse did not get the win he had been hoping for, he showed strong top-end speed to recover from a slow start. His third-place finish follows a 19.84 200m at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix on Sunday, with the 31-year-old also finishing second in the 100m in 9.95.
Simbine had clocked the fastest 100m time of the day, a 9.98 in the semi—finals marking the 12th straight year that he has run sub-10 seconds.
Elsewhere, Team SA’s 800m star Prudence Sekgodiso showed her conversion to the 1500m is coming together when she beat Karabo More, in 4:08.93, with More second in 4:11.90.
In the men’s 3000m, Tshepo Tshite outlasted Luan Munnik to win the men’s metric mile after a tactical battle. Tshite hit the line in 7:54.05 and Munnik was second in 7:54.49.
In the pre-programme earlier in the day, 18-year-old rising star Leendert Koekemoer (pictured) won the men’s 400m race in 44.94, taking 0.09 off his own SA U20 record (45.03) set last year. It qualified him for the World Juniors later this year and took him to No2 in the world age group rankings.
Others in action for South Africa included Luthe PIllay (31.58) and Gardeo Isaavcs (31.77) in the rerely-run 300m, which was won by Zambias Muzala Samukonga in 31.38. In the women’s equivalent, Markie Viljoen was third in a SA record 36,30 .
India’s Murali Sreeshankar caused an upset in the men’s long jump with a 8.12m leap, with Luvo Manyonga having to settle for third.
Photo by Anton Geyser
