FILE - Italy's Marcell Jacobs, left, won the men's 100m final at the Tokyo Olympics. South Africa's Akani Simbine, right, finished fourth in that final, but will be hoping to at least one better at the Paris Olympics FILE - Italy's Marcell Jacobs, left, won the men's 100m final at the Tokyo Olympics. South Africa's Akani Simbine, right, finished fourth in that final, but will be hoping to at least one better at the Paris Olympics. Picture: Jewel Samad / AFP
Team South Africa’s sprinters will start their medal mission at the Paris Olympic Games on Saturday when the 100m heats start just before noon.
American Noah Lyles is the big favourite for the event after he won a treble of gold medals at last year's world championships in Budapest.
Lyles arrives in Paris on the back of a personal best of 9.81 seconds at the London Diamond League. South Africa’s Akani Simbine was in that same race and also produced a top time, running second in 9.86.
After near podium misses at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, Simbine looks ready to grab a medal. Preferably gold ...
“I feel confident,” Simbine said. “This year we’ve done things very different to before.
“The way we’ve approached the year, the way we’ve raced. My coach has put me in the position to be confident in myself ... I’m confident in my race pattern. I’m confident in how I’m racing and everything has come together to make me feel confident to go for gold.”
Shaun Maswangani and Benjamin Richardson are the other South Africans who have qualified for the 100m at the Olympics.
ATHLETICS
Men’s 100m, first round, heats (from 11.55am): Shaun Maswangani, Benjamin Richardson, Akani Simbine.
Men’s 1500m repechage (7.15pm): Tshepo Tshite
Men’s 1500m repechage (7.26pm): Ryan Mphahlele
CYCLING
Men’s road race (11am): Ryan Gibbons
GOLF
Men’s Individual, third round
10.11am: Christiaan Bezuidenhout
12.06pm: Erik van Rooyen
HOCKEY
Women’s Pool B (1.15pm): South Africa vs United States
ROWING
Women’s single scull, C final (9.30am): Paige Badenhorst
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