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Akani Simbine has opened up about the pyschological hindrance that affected him early on in his career.
Akani Simbine has revealed the mental struggles he has undergone in his more than a decade long career in quest for glory.
The South African sprint king has epitomized hard work, sacrifice and the never-die attitude throughout his entire career but his early days in sprinting were the toughest.
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According to the Hindu times, Simbine' quest for the 'sub-10 king' title began in 2010, but the 31-year-old was far from being refined despite the obsession to unseat Usain Bolt as the world's fastest man.
“I kept running 10s, and I thought of chasing a time. And when I started chasing a time, I forgot about what sprinting means, what I actually meant to do in it, and the art of sprinting,” Simbine said.
“That’s like a mental block you’re trying to make for yourself. As much as you say you want to run sub-10, but if you’re constantly chasing that sub-10, you forget about actually putting your race together in the best possible way.”
Akani Simbine's initial struggles
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Before Simbine could make the magical mark of the sprint world almost routine, he took a while to reach that threshold. For five seasons from 2010, Simbine hovered around the mid- and low- 10s, even touching 10.19 in 2012 and 10.02 in 2014. He finally ran sub-10 in 2015, and has done so every season since.
Through those five years of pushing to break that barrier for the first time, Simbine has finally made a breakthrough this year in what looks like his best performance to date.
Simbine - man to beat in 2025?
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Simbine has won the open three legs of the 2025 Diamond League meetings this year and has been instrumental in South Africa's World relays achievements.
He anchored South Africa to gold at the 2021 World Relays. Simbine has finished inside the top 5 in the last four major championship 100m races, including 4th at the 2019 World Championships and 2020 Tokyo Olympics missing out on the bronze medal to Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse.
After missing out on a medal yet again in the men's 100m at the 2024 Paris Olympics – finishing fourth with a new South African record time of 9.82, Simbine finally won an Olympic silver medal as part of South Africa's 4x100m relay team.
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