Akani Simbine anchors SA team to silver medal in 4x100m relay final

By SABC Sport
9th August 2024

Akani Simbine finally clinched his long-awaited Olympic medal on Friday night, carrying the South African 4x100m relay team to a historic finish at the Paris Games.

Simbine, alongside Shaun Maswanganyi and the young talents Bradley Nkoana and Bayanda Walaza, secured a silver medal with an African record time of 37.57 seconds in the men's 4x100m relay final.

Canada claimed the gold with a time of 37.50 seconds, while Great Britain took home the bronze in 37.61 seconds.

"I'm thrilled that we came out here, ran our hearts out, and earned an Olympic silver medal, topped off with an African record," said Simbine, who had narrowly missed out on a medal in the 100m semifinal last week and had often come up short in major championships throughout his career. "For me, it's finally a major championship medal, and I'm hungrier than ever. I'm excited, proud of the guys, and proud of our country."

Earlier that day, South Africa's hopes in the men's 4x400m relay remained alive despite a dramatic turn of events during the first round. World record holder Wayde van Niekerk was notably absent from the heats, leaving Gardeo Isaacs, Zakithi Nene, Antonie Nortje, and Lythe Pillay to qualify for the final.

The team was well-positioned until the third leg, where Nortje was bumped and fell to the track, causing them to finish last in 3:03.19. However, following the disqualification of Nigeria, South Africa was reinstated in the final by the technical referee, keeping their medal aspirations intact.

This development meant that South Africa would compete in both the men's 4x100m final on Friday evening and the men's 4x400m final on Saturday night.

In other events on Friday morning, middle-distance runner Edmund du Plessis finished fourth in his 800m semifinal with a time of 1:45.34, missing out on a spot in the final. In the women's 100m hurdles semifinals, national record holder Marione Fourie placed sixth with a time of 13.01 seconds, which was not enough to advance to the final.

Additionally, diver Julia Vincent finished 11th in the women's 3m springboard final, scoring 271.25 points. Despite qualifying sixth in the semifinals, Vincent expressed disappointment with her performance and hinted at possibly delaying retirement to improve her result at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

"Things didn't go as planned, but I've put countless hours into preparing for these Olympics," an emotional Vincent remarked after the final. "I'm proud to have made history as South Africa's best Olympic diver, but I obviously hoped for a better outcome today."

Paddlers Hamish Lovemore and Andrew Birkett also competed, finishing sixth in their kayak double 500m semifinal with a time of 1:29.70. They later placed fourth in the B final, clocking in at 1:31.29.