Akani Simbine has extended his winning streak in the 100m sprint, taking first place at the Rabat Diamond League with a time of 9.95 seconds. This marks yet another victory in a season where the South African sprinter has remained undefeated.
Akani Simbine reacts after finishing first place in the 100m Rabat Diamond League
In the race, Simbine outpaced Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala, who came in second with a time of 10.05 seconds, and the United States’ Fred Kerley, who finished third in 10.07 seconds.
These times refer to how long each athlete took to complete the 100-metre sprint. A time of 9.95 seconds means Simbine covered the full distance in under ten seconds, a mark that distinguishes world-class sprinters.
This latest win comes after Simbine’s strong performance at the World Relay Championships held in Guangzhou, China. There, he was part of South Africa’s 4x100m relay team—alongside Bayanda Walaza, Sinesipho Dambile, and Bradley Nkoana—that ran the fastest time of the year at 37.61 seconds.
That team narrowly beat the United States by just five hundredths of a second. The result marked the first time any African country had won gold in that relay event.
Simbine also won the 100m at the Atlanta City Games earlier this season. Although his winning time of 9.86 seconds there was wind-assisted—meaning the wind gave him a small push and the time doesn’t officially count for records—it was still a powerful display of speed.
He has also run the fastest officially recognised 100m time in 2025 so far, clocking 9.90 seconds at the Golden Grand Prix in Botswana. This makes him the current world leader in the 100m for the season.
Reacting after his victory in Rabat, Simbine said:
“We’ve never had so many sprinters coming out and running and it’s not just in the 100m. It’s 100, 200, 400, you know? South Africa was always known as a distance nation. Now the sprints [are] coming out you know and it’s great that after me there’s a new generation that can take on and do better than what I’m doing, you know, That’s what I want and that’s what’s I’ve been asking for for the last ten years.”
Simbine’s also shared his long-standing desire to see more South African athletes succeed in short-distance sprinting, which includes events like the 100m and 200m.
These races test how fast an athlete can run over a very short distance, and being able to do so in under 10 seconds is a rare feat.
Simbine remains the fastest sprinter on the planet
The 31-year-old has been a consistent figure in international sprinting. Back in 2021, he broke the African 100m sprint record that had stood for 15 years, setting a new time of 9.84 seconds.
That achievement placed him among the fastest men in the world and solidified his place in African athletics history.
Simbine is expected to continue preparing for the World Championships in Tokyo this September. With his current form, he remains one of the top contenders in the global sprinting arena.
