Simbine and Van Niekerk make statements with Diamond League victories

Sprint stars Akani Simbine and Wayde van Niekerk made significant statements on Sunday, on the eve of the World Athletics Championships, as they closed out a memorable weekend for South African athletics.

Competing in Poland, Simbine and Van Niekerk both stormed to their second Diamond League victories of the season in their specialist events.

Picking up a massive scalp, national record holder Simbine won the men’s 100m race in 9.97 seconds, edging out American world champion Fred Kerley (9.98).

Simbine dragged four men under 10 seconds in a blanket finish, again showcasing his consistency as he fired an ominous warning in the hunt for his first major global medal at the World Championships in Budapest next month.

Van Niekerk dominates

World record holder Van Niekerk was equally impressive in the men’s 400m race, crossing the line in 44.08 to clock his fastest time since 2017.

Continuing his comeback from a serious knee injury, the former Olympic and world champion also turned heads in the build-up to the global championships.

He finished more than half a second ahead of runner-up Bayapo Ndori of Botswana (44.61), with fellow South African athlete Zakithi Nene equalling his personal best of 44.74 to grab fourth spot.

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“Things are moving in a positive direction. I have been able to train consistently,” Van Niekerk said.

“It is my fastest run in seven years and 44.0 shows that 43 seconds is possible. The competition in my event is getting stronger, so I need to work to get better as well.”

Meanwhile, on Saturday, distance runner Adriaan Wildschutt also shone by breaking the SA 5,000m record at a World Athletics Continental Tour meeting in Belgium.

Though he was entered in the B race, which perhaps cost him a chance of dipping under the 13-minute barrier against faster opposition, Wildschutt was superb, completing the 12-and-a-half lap race in 13:02.46. He finished more than seven seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

The 25-year-old athlete, who shattered the long-standing national 10 000m record earlier this season when he stopped the clock at 27:23.10, obliterated the seven-year-old SA 5 000m mark of 13:04.88 set by Elroy Gelant in Hengelo in May 2016.