SA’s sprinting prospects in 2022: Plenty to be excited about

Following a rapid spike in South African sprinting performances over a five-year period, the discipline has taken a knock over the last couple of seasons, but it looks like that slump could soon be over.

In 2014, Simon Magakwe became the first SA man to run under 10 seconds in the 100m dash, and since then the likes of Akani Simbine, Wayde van Niekerk, Anaso Jobodwana, Henricho Bruintjies, Thando Roto, Clarence Munyai and Gift Leotlela have lifted the domestic standard to new heights over distances ranging from 100m to 400m, with Carina Horn and Caster Semenya also raising the bar among the country’s elite women.

The lengthy national lockdown, however, and a seemingly endless list of injuries has seen the times slipping over the last couple of seasons.

While Simbine broke the national 100m record last year, and finished fourth at the Olympics, the likes of Van Niekerk, Bruintjies, Roto and Munyai have all struggled with niggles which have sidlined them for lengthy periods.

Even without some of the country’s fastest men, however, the national team managed to win gold in the 4x100m event at last season’s World Relays championship.

And with Simbine setting the pace up front in 2021, it was promising to see the return of Gift Leotlela, who rocketed back into form, while Munyai and Bruintjies are both reported to be in superb form ahead of the top-flight track and field campaign, and Van Niekerk will be eager to get back to his best.

Add to this the emergence of Shaun Maswanganyi, who has cemented his place as one of the quickest athletes on the US collegiate circuit, and some supremely talented junior prospects (the SA U-20 team shattered the world junior 4x100m relay record last year) and the 2022 season could well be one of the best in the history of South African sprinting.

With the SA athletics squad failing to step on the podium at the last editions of the Olympic Games and the World Championships, having a strong sprint contingent with enough depth to produce world-class relay teams will go a long way in ending that drought.

Spearheaded by Simbine, the national squad should be chasing individual and relay medals at this year’s World Athletics Championships.

We won’t know for sure until the 2022 campaign gains momentum, but on paper, there is a lot to shout about in terms of sprinting.

That potential just needs to be converted from paper to the track.