Gold medalist Akani Simbine of South Africa. REUTERS/Paul Childs

Home » African Champs: Gold for Akani Simbine! And Long Jump Showdown Between SA Athletes

African Champs: Gold for Akani Simbine! And Long Jump Showdown Between SA Athletes

ASABA, Nigeria – South Africa’s Commonwealth Games champion Akani Simbine won the men’s 100 metres at the African Championships on Thursday. Simbine won his race into a headwind in 10.25 seconds. ‘For me, it is marvellous,’ he said. ‘I know for now I am going to represent Africa in the Continental Cup so this made […]

By SAPeople
03-08-18 16:34
in Fab South African Stuff
Gold medalist Akani Simbine of South Africa. REUTERS/Paul Childs

ASABA, Nigeria – South Africa’s Commonwealth Games champion Akani Simbine won the men’s 100 metres at the African Championships on Thursday.

Gold medalist Akani Simbine of South Africa. REUTERS/Paul Childs

Simbine won his race into a headwind in 10.25 seconds.

‘For me, it is marvellous,’ he said. ‘I know for now I am going to represent Africa in the Continental Cup so this made me want to work harder and train more. It is a great feat.’

Winners at the championships earn a spot on the African team in the Continental Cup which matches teams from Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, the Americas, South America and the United States on Sept. 8-9 in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Arthur Cisse of Ivory Coast took 100m silver in 10.33 while South Africa’s Simon Magakwe got the bronze in 10.35.

EASY WINNER

Ruswahl Samaai surprised world champion Luvo Manyonga in a showdown of South African long jumpers with Samaai winning with a leap of 8.45m on his fourth attempt.

Samaai celebrates his gold, by Pius Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images (TeamSA.co.za)

Manyonga, the reigning African champion, was 2 cm behind.

‘We’re competitors but at the end of the day, we try to back each other up,’ Samaai said of their friendly rivalry to TeamSA. ‘We focus on showing the world what South Africa is about and what our brotherhood is about.’

Manyonga was full of praise for Samaai, who has taken a back seat to the Commonwealth champion at recent major championships, said TeamSA.

‘He didn’t come here to play. He came here to defend his African title and he did that very well,’ Manyonga said. ‘He’s been consistent throughout the year and I’m happy for him.’

Rikennete Steenkamp took silver in the women’s 100m hurdles, adding to the medals for South Africa who are the defending champions.

‘I didn’t have the best start and I hit a hurdle, but it was a good race and I’m happy to have achieved my goal,’ Steenkamp said.

Transportation problems that left several hundred athletes stranded at Lagos airport, some for nearly three days, forced a major revision of the competition timetable on Wednesday with officials apologising on Thursday for the shortcomings.

(Reporting by Mike Oboh in Asaba, editing by Gene Cherry and Ken Ferris/Reuters and Jenni Baxter/SAPeople)