Akani Simbine powers through to semifinals of World Championships

Akani Simbine powered through the 100m heats at the World Championships in Budapest on Saturday, showing he has the tools to negotiate his way through the semifinals and onto the podium on Sunday.  

But he’s going to have to perform at his best to finally land the first major medal of his career. 

Simbine out-dipped former world champion Christian Coleman of the US on the line to win the final seventh heat in 9.97sec, by just one-hundredth of a second, the only one of the three South Africans to advance. 

Shaun Maswanganyi, the World Student Games silver medallist and third at the NCAA championships, was unable to recover from a slow start and he ended fourth in his heat in 10.21. Benji Richardson was also fourth in his heat in 10.17. 

Simbine didn’t get away as quickly as Coleman, but his top-end speed allowed him to chase down his rival and take the win on the line in the third-fastest time of the night. 

Jamaican Oblique Seville was the quickest overall as he equalled his 9.86 personal best while Noah Lyles, the 200m world champion looking to win the double, won his heat in 9.95. 

Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala also clocked 9.97, but he was second behind Lyles.  

The only other athlete to dip under 10 was defending champion Fred Kerley, the runner-up behind Seville in 9.99. 

Briton Zharnel Hughes won his heat in 10.00 and Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs advanced in third place in his heat in 10.15. Also through is Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, who won his heat in 10.11. 

The semifinals are set for 4.35pm and the final will be staged at 7.10pm. 

Tshepo Tshite darted through from the back of the field to finish second in his 1,500m heat to advance to Sunday’s semifinals. He surged at the death, weaving his way through to the outside to find the space to stretch his legs and overhaul all but one of his rivals to cross the line in 3:46.79. 

Among the people behind him was Kenya’s former world champion Timothy Cheruiyot. But countryman Ryan Mphahlele failed to advance, finishing 10th in a race won by world record-holder Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway in 3:33.94. 

Elsewhere, it was tough for South African competitors.  

Kyle Blignaut, sixth at the Tokyo Olympics, failed to clear 19m in the shot put qualifying, finishing behind countryman Burger Lambrechts Jnr on 19.52m. 

Carina Viljoen ended 12th in her women’s 1,500m heat in 4:11.02.