[Image: Akani Simbine]
South African speedster Akani Simbine ran the fastest 100m in the world for 2025 at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event at the National Stadium in Gaborone.
Flying across the finish line in just 9.90 seconds, Simbine set a new world lead time, proving himself faster than African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala from Kenya.
The latter has won most of their duels over the years and also holds the African record of 9.77 seconds, with Simbine’s SA mark standing at 9.82.
Omanyala was quickest out of the blocks on Saturday and maintained an edge for the first 60 metres or so. But then Simbine – who claimed his first ever individual global medal with a 60m bronze at the recent world indoor championships in China – put his foot down and gradually made his way past Omanyala.
The 31-year-old Simbine took in the acclaim from the boisterous Gaborone crowd and was also congratulated by Omanyala, who was second in 10 seconds flat, with another South African in Retshidisitswe Mlenga third in a solid 10.15.
The men’s 100m world record is currently at 9.58 seconds, set by Jamaica’s Usain Bolt in 2009, but the way Simbine has been improving over the last year, we might just see South Africa take a swing at the record one day.
Let’s see what the fastest man in South Africa does at the SA championships in Potchefstroom from April 24-26.
