Akani Simbine is unarguably the new sub-10 seconds king after breaking Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell's 100m record.
Legendary South African sprinter Akani Simbine has again etched his name in history by breaking Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell's 100m record at the Botswana Grand Prix in Gaborone.
The veteran and highly respected sprinter blazed to victory in a world-leading time of 9.90s (-1.4m/s), far ahead of Kenya's Ferdinand Omanyala, who also clocked a fast season's best time of 10.00s, while South Africa's rising sensation Retshidisitswe Mlenga was third in 10.15s.
With his brilliant time, Simbine unknowingly engraved his name in a key stat ahead of the legendary Bolt and Powell as the first man in history to run under the 10 seconds mark for 11 consecutive years.
This propelled him ahead of Bolt, who previously owned the record at 10 years, while Powell dropped to third at 9 years.
Simbine's new feat shows his consistency through the years as he has been at every major championship 100m final in the past decade.
His impressive start to the 2025 season, highlighted by claiming his first career individual medal at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing - 60m bronze, in addition to his new world lead and record-breaking stat shows he's full of confidence and man on a mission this year to break his 100m medal jinx at the World Championships in Tokyo this summer.
The 31-year-old will be gunning to improve his time in subsequent races as the season progresses, setting the tone for another memorable outing in Tokyo.
Comments