Shaun Maswanganyi and Benjamin Richardson shift focus to 200m after impressive showing in 100m

Maswanganyi finished fifth in his semi-final with a season best time of 10.02 seconds, while Richardson narrowly missed advancing with his 9.95 seconds performance, which earned him third place. Despite his disappointment, Maswanganyi accepted that he had a horrible race and is now set to join Wayde Van Niekerk as one of three South Africans representing their country in the 200m.

READ: Brave Akani Simbine misses out on an Olympic podium for the third time

''That was a horrible race for me, I wanted to make it to that final, I came out very short and the best thing I can do is to focus on the 200m,'' said Maswanganyi.

Without making too many excuses, Maswanganyi acknowledged that he lacked sufficient races to prepare for his second Olympic Games. However, he accepted responsibility for his poor performance in the semi -finals race.

''I wouldn't say so but I know that I could have been prepared a little bit better, I wish I had more races coming to the championship, but it is part of the game, I never make excuses, the only way I can think of is finding solutions to move forward. I was a 200m to look forward to, I am more confident in that race,'' added Maswanganyi.

His most important lesson is that he needs to compete more frequently before a major championship to better assess his readiness.

''Definitely, try to get a few more races. And just execution, if I execute the best of my race - I would have nothing else to say. I will lock in and focus on the 200,'' he concluded.

He believes he is better suited for the 200m than the 100m and expects to excel in his favourite event, aiming to reach the final.

At just 20 years old, Richardson gave his all, running 9.95 seconds. In any other race, that time would have easily qualified him for the finals. While he was proud of his performance, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed for narrowly missing out.