Akani Simbine anchors Team SA to relay silver at Paris Olympics

Halala, Akani Simbine, halala!

The 30-year-old sprint star finally has an Olympic medal after he anchored South Africa’s stunning performance in the 4x100m relay final to clinch the silver at the Stade de France in Paris on Friday night.

After years of coming either fourth or fifth in the 100m finals at the world championships and Olympics, Simbine put the disappointment of finishing fourth at the Paris Games once more to roar down the home straight and grab second place in a new African record of 37.57 seconds.

Canada, led by former 200m world champion Andre de Grasse, secured the gold medal in a time of 37.50, while Great Britain took the bronze in 37.61.

The highly fancied United States – who were missing 100m champion Noah Lyles due to Covid – were eventually disqualified.

But it was a night to remember for Team South Africa, who recorded their fifth medal of the Paris Olympics after Tatjana Smith’s gold and silver in the swimming pool, and the bronze medals by the Blitzboks rugby team and mountain-biker Alan Hatherly.

What made SA’s performance even more remarkable is the fact that they were missing young star Benjamin Richardson – who ran a personal best 100m time of 9.86 just a few weeks ago – due to a hamstring injury.

That saw Pretoria matric student Bayanda Walaza running the opening leg in lane seven on Friday night, and the 18-year-old responded with a solid 10.41 time to be ranked fourth.

He handed the baton over to Shaun Maswanganyi, and the 23-year-old speedster ran 9.06 in his leg to leave SA in fifth position.

Another teenager, Bradley Nkoana, was next up, and the 19-year-old maintained SA’s fifth place with a 9.32 leg.

It was then up to SA’s No 1 sprinter to take them to the podium, and Simbine motored down the track to run the fastest final leg in the race, 8.78, to secure the silver medal for South Africa.

In the women’s 4x100m relay final, Sha’Carri Richardson powered the United States to the gold medal in a time of 41.78, followed by Great Britain (41.85) and Germany (41.97).

Meanwhile, in the men’s 4x400m relay, South Africa survived drama on the third leg of their heat on Friday to qualify for Saturday night’s final (9pm start) via a referee’s decision.

SA had initially ended last in their heat in a time of 3:03.19 after third-leg runner Antonie Nortjé tripped and fell after receiving the baton from Zakithi Nene, who roared down the track in 44.20 to push the team into fourth place.

There was no Wayde van Niekerk in the quartet, with Gardeo Isaacs first out of the blocks to record 45.75, which placed SA in seventh, where after Nene pounced.

But after he handed over to Nortjé, Spanish athlete David Garcia ran across the South African, and in the latter’s attempt to avoid a collision, he was caught up in the spikes of Frenchman Teo Andant, who stumbled initially, but managed to get away.

Nortjé, though, went down and was about 10 metres behind the rest of the field as he tried to make up lost ground.

Youngster Lythe Pillay tried hard in the final leg to run a time of 45.20, but it seemed as if SA were knocked out.

But soon afterwards, the judges ruled that Nigeria had committed a lane infringement and were disqualified, and the referee included South Africa in Saturday’s final as the ninth entrant, where they will line up in lane one.

They will have to catch Botswana, though, with the fellow southern African nation – bolstered by 200m champion Letsile Tebogo – recorded the fastest time in the heats, 2:57.76, followed by Great Britain (2:58.88) and the United States (2:59.15).

USA, though, will be significantly boosted in the final by 400m champion Quincy Hall, who won the individual gold in a blisteringly quick 43.40 on Thursday night and sat out the relay heat.

The two other South Africans in action on the track on Friday were unable to reach their respective finals.

In the second of the men’s 800m semi-finals, SA’s Edmund du Plessis produced a strong performance as he went to the front from the early stages.

He was challenged at the bell by Canada’s Marco Arop, but again put in a valiant surge at the 600m mark.

But Du Plessis couldn’t hold as Arop won in 1:45.05, with the South African fourth in 1:45.34, which placed him in the second non-automatic qualifying spot.

The third semi-final, though, was the quickest, with the top five runners all recording times of under 1:44, and Du Plessis was knocked out.

The only SA lady on the track on Women’s Day, 100m hurdles star Marioné Fourie, faced the toughest of the three semi-finals as she came up against Puerto Rico favourite Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, American Masai Russell and Jamaican Ackera Nugent.

Fourie, though, started well in lane nine, but was distracted about halfway through by British athlete Cindy Sember hitting a hurdle and crashing to the ground.

Fourie seemed to slow down a bit, and had to settle for sixth position in 13.01 – well below her personal best of 12.49, which would have been quick enough for a final berth.

Meanwhile, Van Niekerk took to Instagram to speak about his Olympic campaign, which ended with a 20.72 time in the 200m semi-finals on Wednesday night.

“Extremely disappointed with my consistency the last few seasons, and obviously with this comes a lot of frustration and mental challenges,” the 400m world record-holder said.

“Every decision I’ve made was for my health and happiness for the sport that’s been a massive blessing to me, and I’ll forever be thankful to track and field and everyone who contributed to my journey thus far.

“I’m at peace with where I’m at and what the journey has presented me.

“I’ve been blessed to experience extreme highs and won every medal, and now I’m exposed to the lows and totally accept it as my reality.

“I stay faithful, and trust that God will guide and help me through every step moving forward.

“Faith as small as a mustard seed is all I have, and I’ll hold on to that faith as long as I can. Thank you for all the love and support, I see and appreciate you all.”