Paris 2024 Olympics: When will Akani Simbine contest the 100m event?

Akani Simbine has progressed in the last two editions of the Summer Olympics. Can he claim a podium place at the 2024 Paris Olympics?

Simbine stung by disappointment at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020

Akani Simbine ran a time of 9.93 seconds at Tokyo 2020 in the 100m final. That meant he missed a bronze medal by a heartbreaking four-hundredths of a second behind Canada’s Andre De Grasse. Italy’s Marcell Jacobs was the surprise gold medalist four years ago in a wide-open field that Simbine fancied his chances of winning. Four years before that, Simbine came fifth in the 100m final in Rio De Janeiro; the medalists that night were the legendary Jamaican Usain Bolt with gold, USA’s Justin Gatlin claiming silver and De Grasse scooping the bronze. Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 contain painful ‘what if’ thoughts and memories for Simbine, but Paris 2024 can change all of that.

Simbine wants a medal in Paris. Image: YFM

Akani fell out of love with sprinting

After battling depression and disenchantment with the sport, Simbine is now just a “kid that is running for fun” again.

“I did everything I needed to do for track or the sport, I ate right, I sacrificed time with my family, I did all these things,” Simbine said in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com.

“I was just the athlete, I pushed everything away and still got disappointed. When I got disappointed, I had nothing to run back to. I had nothing that was my foundation or my security because now my whole identity doesn’t know anything else than track. I was supposed to get a medal and now I didn’t get a medal. So now what must happen?”

Key dates for the 100m at Paris Olympics 2024

The preliminary round of the Men’s 100m event is on Saturday 03 August at 10:35 SA time. That’s followed by Round 1 at 11:45. Sunday 04 August sees the semi-finals at 20:00 and then the grand final, where Simbine will hope to line up, at 21:50.

Will Akani Simbine claim a medal in the 100m event at the 2024 Paris Olympics?

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