Akani Simbine narrowly misses bronze in 100m Olympic final
Although he lowered his own national record to 9.82 seconds, that left him 100th of a second short of the podium.
Bottom to top: Italy's Lamont Marcell Jacobs, Botswana's Letsile Tebogo, US' Noah Lyles, Jamaica's Oblique Seville, South Africa's Akani Simbine, Jamaica's Kishane Thompson, US' Fred Kerley and US' Kenneth Bednarek compete in the men's 100m final of the athletics event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 4, 2024. Picture: Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP
PARIS - Akani Simbine has described as bittersweet his fourth place in the 100m final at the Paris Olympics.
He lowered his own national record to 9.82 seconds, but that left him 100th of a second short of the podium.
Simbine recounted those anxious moments while waiting for the official results after the photo finish.
“It was just like, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. And then I saw the results and I was like, oh man, okay. But I saw the time and I was like, I think that consoles me right now.”
Simbine added that he was far from done with sprinting, and was looking to the 2028 Olympics.
“There's no way that I'm leaving the sport now. I started the sport very late in my life, so I feel like I can still get more out of the sport. I'm 30 years old, I'm running the fastest I’ve ever run in my life. I've still got the drive.”
Simbine has another medal shot in the 4x100m relay later this week, but on Monday evening, all South African eyes will be on Prudence Sekgodiso in the women’s 800m final.