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Akani in standout victory in Botswana

football13 April 2025 13:33
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Akani Simbine was the top South African performer on Saturday in Botswana, while Adriaan Wildschutt broke new ground in Gqeberha on Sunday.

In his first 100m race of the season, Simbine stormed to victory in 9.90 seconds in the men's 100m at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix track and field meeting, finishing well clear of African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya who took the runner-up spot in 10.00.

Competing in the men's 200m B race, Sinesipho Dambile also produced a standout result, taking the win in 20.01 and shattering his personal best of 20.37.

Dambile's time was 0.22 quicker than Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, who won the 200m A race in 20.23.

There was also an impressive victory for 17-year-old Njabulo Mbatha who won the men's 400m hurdles race in a new personal best of 49.07.

Olympic silver medallist Jo-Ane du Plessis, won the women's javelin throw with a 61.27m heave, holding off a challenge from Andrea Zelezna of the Czech Republic who landed the javelin at 60.88m.

ADRIAAN SETS RECORD IN SA

Meanwhile in Gqeberha, making a rare appearance on South African roads, long-distance runner Adriaan Wildschutt continued to break new ground, shattering the national 10km record at the Absa Run Your City on Sunday.

Wildschutt, who is based in the United States, had promised beforehand that he would challenge the national mark of 27:35 set by Precious Mashele at the same race in 2023.

And he delivered in style, stopping the clock at 27:28 to slice seven seconds off Mashele's SA record, despite struggling against the wind in the closing stages of the race.

Wildschutt added the 10km mark to the national records he already holds over 3 000m (7:32.99), 5 000m (12:55.02) and 10 000m (26:50.64) on the track. The 26-year-old athlete finished 19 seconds clear of Kenyan Vincent Kipkorir, who took second place in Gqeberha in 27:47. Kabelo Mulaudzi also dipped under 28 minutes, hanging on to finish third in 27:57.

"It feels good. It would have been such a pity coming all the way from the US and just missing the record by a few seconds," Wildschutt said. "My family came out to watch me, so I knew when it really started getting hard that there were people waiting for me, and I made a big surge and dug as deep as I could, and I'm very happy with the effort I was able to put together."

In the women's race, national record holder Glenrose Xaba was the top South African finisher, taking third place in 31:55. Kenya's Jane Chacha took the win in 31:45, with Selam Gebre of Ethiopia grabbing the runner-up spot in 31:50.

"Our athletes are putting their best foot forward ahead of the ASA Senior Track And Field Championships in Potchefstroom on 24-26 April 2025.

"It's been an exciting start to this season for the Rainbow Nation, with our athletes giving us national records almost every week or month. We are quite proud of this and cannot wait for the next coming weeks of competition.," said James Moloi, the President of Athletics South Africa.

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