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South Africa’s fastest man over 100m and 200m, Akani Simbine, has a potential date with Jamaica’s iconic sprinter Usain Bolt in the lucrative International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Diamond League next month.
The clash between the two athletes in the 100m sprint at the Adidas Grand Prix in New York on June 13 will be the highlight of the many IAAF international competitions for which South African track and field athletes will line up. The events start this month.
Star jumper Khotso Mokoena and 10-time SA javelin champion Sunette Viljoen will mark the start of the South African adventure at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting on May 17.
Mokoena, the Commonwealth Games and African triple champion, will begin the defence of his long jump title that made him the first South African to win the Diamond trophy last year.
The contingent’s debut in the European track and field season will mark the beginning of an intense build-up to the IAAF World Championships that will be held in Beijing, China, in August.
Simbine and Viljoen have provisionally booked their berths at the global event after attaining their respective standard entry marks in the past few weeks.
“I’m excited to race in the Diamond League,” said Simbine. He has faced Bolt only once, when the two anchored their 4x100m relay teams in the Commonwealth final in Glasgow, Scotland, last year.
Jamaica won the race, while Simbine and company narrowly missed out on medals with a new national record of 38.35, earning fourth place.
“I will go there and do my best,” said Simbine.
He boasts a season best of 10.09 in the 100m and 20.27 in the 200m (see graphic).
The 21-year-old will race at the Rome Diamond League on June 4 before his potential battle with Bolt in the US.
With 110 days to go before the global championships, other South Africans have also earned invitations to various international meetings in upcoming weeks.
Newly crowned SA champions Ruswahl Samaai (long jump) and Johan Cronje (1 500m) will line up at the IAAF World Challenge – the AA Drink FBK Games – in Hengelo, Netherlands, on May 24.
Moscow 2013 bronze medallist Cronje will also run in the US (May 30) and Norway (June 11) Diamond series, while Commonwealth Games long jump bronze medallist Samaai will feature in the Birmingham Diamond League on June 7.
The Diamond League comprises 32 individual event disciplines with a point-scoring Diamond Race that runs throughout the 14-meeting series.
At the end of the series, the winners of each race will get a trophy, cash prize and wild card for the IAAF World Championships
