Shaun Maswanganyi explains why he withdrew from the African champs

This was his first race in eight weeks, a period during which he chose not to compete in Cameroon.

Maswanganyi expressed satisfaction with his decision, having secured third place with a time of 10.06 at the Olympic Games on Saturday, held at the Stade de France, to move on to the semifinal tonight.

He remains confident he will reach the final on the same day.

"It's been tough not having races in between, you know African Champs happened and I flew back just for safety wise because I didn't wanna risk you know getting food poisoning or sick over there,” Maswanganyi said.

“It's a malaria zone and so forth but no excuses, we came here to compete, we are South Africans, we're green and gold. We are here to compete and show out.”

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Maswanganyi, under the guidance of the legendary Carl Lewis, is confident in his ability to reach the final tonight.

"A decent race, first race in eight weeks, it feels good that me and my two teammates just coming in and putting on a show at the Games. Semifinals again, firstly when I ran in Tokyo, so I just wanna take that energy, I know I can run fast in the semifinal and hopefully make the final."