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

Simbine missed yet another chance to secure his first major international medal in the men’s 100m final at Stade de France on Sunday night. Simbine finished in fourth place with a time of 9.82 seconds, narrowly missing the podium by 0.1 second this broke his previous national record of 9.84 seconds, set in Hungary in 2021. 

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The gold medal went to American Noah Lyles, who achieved a personal best of 9.79 seconds. Kishen Thompson of Jamaica also clocked 9.79 seconds to take silver, while America Fred Kerley secured third place in 9.81 seconds.

''Yeah, it’s factual that the medal is what we want, it is what we compete for. Just that we really have a very competitive group of athletes now, we were separated by a 0.01 - that is what you win with and it is one of those things. It is really great to run against those guys, we just keep on pushing. For me to run my personal best out of this race. I can't ask for more,'' said Simbine.

Simbine, who finished fifth in 2016, fourth in 2020, and fourth again in 2024, was visibly disappointed with the outcome, but insists that he will never stop dreaming about a major international medal.

''Never that man, I never stop dreaming. I was closer than I was in Tokyo. So for me it shows that we are improving and we are getting faster,'' added Simbine.

Millions of people in South Africa watched Simbine compete in his third Olympic final, and he hopes his performance will inspire future athletes to follow in his footsteps. He is also pleased to motivate Shaun Maswanganyi and Benjamin Richardson, who cale close to reaching the final, to believe in their ability to run faster.

''I know a lot of South Africans were watching me, the Springboks won in this stadium, you know. There is no South African that has ever been to the Olympics three times and I am doing this thing for the first time to inspire the next generation,'' he concluded.

Simbine’s Olympic journey in Paris is not over yet, as he still has the 4x100m relay to run. He remains optimistic about Team SA’s chances of winning a medal.