Africa-Press – South-Africa. Akani Simbine continued his unbeaten run over 100m in Atlanta on Saturday afternoon while Wayde van Niekerk settled for third place in the 200m in his season-opener.
A strong tail wind nullified strong runs in both their races, with Simbine storming to victory in 9.86sec, well ahead of Udodi Onwuzurike of Nigeria in 10.05.
The wind was measured at 2.3 metres per second.
Simbine, fresh from winning gold in the 4x100m at World Relays in Guangzhou last weekend, also won the first three 100m races of his season, one in Botswana and two in the Diamond League meets in China.
Van Niekerk, who hadn’t competed since finishing seventh in the 200m at the Paris Olympics in August last year, started off his 2025 campaign with a seemingly respectable 20.03 over the straight 200m at the adidas Atlanta City Games.
The wind was measured at 2.2mps, with Briton Zharnel Hughes taking full advantage as he won in 19.55.
Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago was second in 19.63.
Van Niekerk, with a 19.84 personal best from eight years ago, slowed markedly over the final stages of the race.
He had beaten Richards in their only previous encounter over this distance, in the final at the 2017 world championships in London.
The 32-year-old Van Niekerk, the world 400m record-holder, is unlikely to find glory in the 200m and will surely have to return to the one-lap contest if he plans on challenging for global silverware down the line.
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