Veteran Akani Simbine rolled into the ninth major 100m semifinal of his career, but it was Gift Leotlela who stole the show in the heats of the world championships in Tokyo on Saturday, setting the pace with a blistering 9.87 sec personal best.
Both men suffered their own hardships on the same track at the National Stadium track at the Olympics four years ago; Simbine had to settle for a painful fourth in the final while Leotlela’s campaign ended in injury, a frequent hindrance since then.
Sunday will be like jumping through a time warp to seek redemption, though they must first negotiate the semifinals (1.43pm), which feature seven of the eight finalists from the 2024 Paris Olympics, like champion Noah Lyles of the US, Jamaica’s silver medallist Kishane Thompson and Letsile Tebogo of Botswana.
The final is at 3.20pm.
Leotlela exploded out the blocks in the first decider of the evening, which was also the quickest with Kayinsola Ajayi of Nigeria second in 9.88 and Jamaican Oblique Seville, another Paris finalist, third in 9.93.
The South African produced the fourth-fastest heat time ever at a world championships.
American Fred Kerley went 9.79 in 2022 before winning the world title, while Seville clocked 9.86 in 2023 only to finish fourth. Justin Gatlin of the US went 9.83 in 2015, landing up with silver behind Usain Bolt.
Leotlela, whose previous best was 9.94 from 2021, wants to stay grounded.
“My expectations are not sky-high right now, we’re still keeping it low, focusing on ourselves, focusing on the next race,” said the 27-year-old, whose performance should boost confidence for South Africa’s 4x100m relay team, especially after the injury-enforced withdrawal of his training partner, Bayanda Walaza.
Simbine won the final heat in 10.02, one-hundredth of a second faster than his heat time at last year’s Games, where he punched a 9.82 national record in the final to place fourth by one-hundredth of a second.
Simbine, who turns 32 next Sunday, is bidding to win his first major 100m medal, having finished fourth at two Olympics and one world championships (2019) and fifth at two world championships (2017 and 2022) and one Olympics (2016). He also made the world championship semifinals in 2015 and 2023.
“I want to run faster in the next race and secure a place in the final,” he said afterwards. “After winning a [60m] medal at the world indoor championships, I hope this will be a perfect year for me.”
Retshidisitswe Mlenga, the late replacement for Walaza who flew out of South Africa only on Wednesday, finished seventh in his 100m heat in a disappointing 10.42.
The mixed 4x400m team of Gardeo Isaacs, Shirley Nekhubui, matric pupil Leendert Koekoemoer and Zeney van der Walt ended sixth in the relay final, but their 3 min 11.89 sec was slower than the 3:11.16 African record set in the heats.
Miranda Coetzee, who went 49.76 in the morning, was substituted in the evening by Nekhubui, who started fast but faded to 51.30.
Had Coetzee run and matched her morning split, South Africa would have squeezed onto the podium behind the US and the Netherlands.
The men’s and women’s 400m heats take place on Sunday (from 11.35am), featuring both Coetzee and Nekhubui as well as medal contender Zakithi Nene.
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