The South African 100m sprint champion, Akani Simbine, has received a major boost in confidence ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

On the weekend the South African record holder ran the fastest 100m in the world for the year by clocking a time of 9.90 seconds during the Atlanta City Games in the USA.

Running into a headwind on a makeshift track, Simbine cruised to the finish a tenth of a second ahead of Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala, with American Kendal Williams finishing third in 10.05.

Simbine said confidence heading to Paris will be key.

“Putting together the win brings up confidence you know, and the coach always said it's very difficult to beat a confident sprint or confident athlete,” said Simbine.

“I feel confident and if I'm confident in what my running is and my training is at, then it's going be very difficult to beat me.

“So, for me it's just to keep the confidence high, keep it going and just keep on building on the season and not rushing.”

The opening ceremony of the Paris Games will take place on 26 July.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport