Team South Africa sprint king Akani Simbine will have to carry the 4x100m relay team on his broad shoulders during Thursday morning’s semi-final (11.35am).
The team suffered a big blow earlier this week when Benjamin Richardson was withdrawn from the Paris Olympics after a hamstring injury.
“Benjamin sustained a hamstring injury in the men's 200m heats on Monday and has been withdrawn from all further competition,” Team SA chief medical officer Jean de Wilde said.
Benjamin was a key part of the team, especially after the struggles the likes of Wayde van Niekerk and Shaun Maswanganyi have endured this week.
Both Van Niekerk and Maswanganyi failed to make the final of the 200m, fading badly towards the end of their respective races.Maswanganyi will now have to pick himself up ahead of the 4x100m relays.
Simbine, on the other hand, had run the race of of his life in the men’s 100m final, clocking a personal best and South African record time of 9.82. Simbine finished fourth in the final, finishing 0.03 seconds behind the winner and gold medallist Noah Lyles.
Simbine is likely to anchor the South Africans’ race, and he will probably need to run another blistering 100m to try and give them a chance.
Bradley Nkoana and Bayanda Walaza are set to be the other two members of the relay team, with Van Niekerk unlikely to run again until the final.
Nkoana and Walaza was part of the SA relay team earlier this year who clocked 38.08. They will be hoping to produce a similar performance at the Olympics.
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