South African sprinters aiming to make history on Super Sunday in Paris

Following the heats on Saturday, veteran sprinter Akani Simbine and rising stars Shaun Maswanganyi and Benjamin Richardson all qualified for the three semifinals of the 100m.

Running in his third Olympic Games, Simbine crossed the line first in Heat 6 with a time of 10.03 seconds, putting him tied 11th fastest overall. Maswanganyi and Richardson both stopped the clock at 10.06s and are part of the 28 sprinters advancing to the semifinals.

Topping the timesheets were Kenneth Bednarek and Fred Kerley. The US athletes recorded a time of 9.97s, edging Louie Hinchcliffe from Great Britain and Cameroon's Emmanuel Essme, who recorded a season's best 9.98.

Favourites Noah Lyles, Kishane Thompson and Marcell Jacobs all progressed to the semis on Sunday evening, where times are likely to be quicker.

Simbine ran a season's best 9.86s at a meet in London in July.  The Kempton Park native narrowly missed out on bronze at the Tokyo Games, coming fourth in the final.20-year-old Richardson recently recorded a personal best of 9.86s in Switzerland, while, Maswanganyi ran a blistering 9.89s in the US in May.

The semifinals begin at 20:05 in the Stade de France, whittling 28 athletes down to eight. Those who cut the mustard will compete for Olympic gold and the title of the world's fastest man at 21:50.  

READ MORE: Zheng Qinwen wins gold to become China's first Olympic tennis singles champion