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Akani Simbine may have missed out on an Olympic podium in the 100m final by just 0.01s, but that didn’t define his journey - it only fueled a new motivation phase.
South African sprint icon Akani Simbine had a memorable Paris Olympics to remember, following an emotional outing at the Games.
The 31-year-old narrowly missed a podium placement in the men's 100m final, with a fourth-place finish in a new National Record (NR) of 9.82s, which was just 0.01s behind bronze medallist Fred Kerley and 0.03s behind gold medallist Noah Lyles.
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It was another agonizing position for the three-time Olympian, who had finished fifth at Rio 2016 Olympics, then found himself in the worst position in sport – fourth in an Olympic final – not once, but twice at Tokyo 2020 and then Paris 2024.
Finally able to speak about the emotional moment, Simbine opened up on the Ozow-On-Air podcast why he never felt too much regret.
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"I missed out on a medal by 0.01, that is nothing like not even a nail. You know, that's nothing. And, I was like okay, like I'm actually happy, you know I'm fine. I'm good. I'm happy with my race," said Simbine.
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19:52 - 11.01.2025
Where is my money? Two years after, sober Usain Bolt with a reminder about his stolen $12 million
Sober Usain Bolt penned a reminder on his stolen money, two years after major financial setback.
"I ran my best race that I could run and that was in the final of the Olympic Games and that's all I could give. So I need to be happy with that."
Thankfully, his heartbreaking Olympic final moment was short-lived, as the African sprint legend finally got his deserving global medal when he anchored the young South African 4x100m squad to the silver medal in Paris.
Simbine's blistering anchor leg run of 8.78s saw him take Team South Africa from fifth to second, and for what he has been through in his career, it is worth its weight in gold.
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In addition, the 30-year-old's blazing time also propelled him to an all-time great list as the third-fastest relay anchor in Olympics history, behind the legendary Usain Bolt (8.65s) and Asafa Powell (8.68s).
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