Akani Simbine proved that he is in prime shape for the Paris Olympics when he produced a superb time to finish behind Noah Lyles at the London Diamond League event on Saturday.
The South African 100m record-holder wasn’t far off his national mark of 9.84 seconds, finishing in an excellent time of 9.86 to edge out Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo (9.88) for second position.
That beat his 2024 best of 9.94, and the result will give him the world of confidence ahead of his journey to France for the upcoming Paris Games.
But it was Tebogo who blasted out of the blocks, along with British runner Jeremiah Azu , staying ahead of Lyles for over 50 metres.
The American, though roared up on the Botswana speedster, and instead of slowing down before the finish line, he went all the way through to set a new personal best of 9.81 seconds – eclipsing his previous mark of 9.83 that he ran in June.
Simbine fought back over the last 30 metres, going from sixth up to third, and then he just got ahead of Tebogo – who equalled his personal best and national record – on the line.
“I’m happy with today’s performance, I’ve run a season’s best,” Simbine told the Diamond League website afterwards.
Noah Lyles wins the last 100m men's race before #Paris2024 with Akani Simbine and Letsile Tebogo coming in 2nd and 3rd in a photo finish 🔥#DiamondLeague pic.twitter.com/rNMQNkFzgK
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) July 20, 2024
“I think we’ve got the time right now, and so it’s just time to fix up a little bit of the race ahead of the Olympics.
“The crowd is always amazing in London. I love coming to London and racing in London. I always run fast in London, and it’s just an awesome place.
“It feels good, and I’m happy with my race. This is a huge confidence ahead of the Games, knowing the shape I’m in right now and knowing what we need to work on just in the last week.
“I’m feeling good going into the Games, and I’m really excited for it.”
What made the quick times even more remarkable is the fact that the athletes had to run into a head wind of -0.3m/s.
The 27-year-old Lyles, who did the triple of the 100m, 200m and 4x100m titles at last year’s world championships in Budapest, made a statement to the rest of the contenders that he is the favourite for the Olympic gold medal.
A new PB for @LylesNoah 👀
The 🇺🇸 clocks 9.81 in the 100m to notch up his first #DiamondLeague win of the season and lay down a marker ahead of @Paris2024 #LondonDL🇬🇧
📷 @matthewquine / @macroprophoto pic.twitter.com/XI2IQWPe3m
But the 9.81 time only puts him third on the 2024 world list, behind Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson (9.77) and Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala (9.79).
Simbine, though, will be delighted with his 9.86, as it places him joint-fifth on the 2024 world list alongside South African youngster Benjamin Richardson – who ran the time in Switzerland just last week – and American Christian Coleman, with Jamaica’s Oblique Seville alone in fourth on 9.82.
Now it’s all about getting in the final preparations for the Olympics, where the athletics competition starts on August 1.
The men’s 100m heats begin on August 3, with the semi-finals and final taking place a day later.