Akani Simbine continues to dominate 100m with win at Atlanta City Games

JOHANNESBURG - SA sprint star Akani Simbine continued his 100m dominance, picking up another win at the Atlanta City Games.

The South African clocked a wind-aided 9.86 seconds for the win.

He started a bit slow, but hit his stride at the 50-metre mark, well ahead of Nigerian Udodi Onwuzurike, who was second with a run of 10.05 seconds.

Simbine's 9.90 seconds from the Botswana Golden Grand Prix in April remains as the official world lead for 2025.

Akani Simbine sprints to a world-leading time at Botswana Golden Grand Prix

Simbine was expecting the reigning Olympic champion, Noah Lyles, to be lining up alongside him, but the American withdrew from the race due to a "tight ankle" that has impacted him in the last two weeks.

The 31-year-old sprinter has won both 100m Diamond League events this season and a medal at the World Indoors and anchored Team SA to gold in the 4x100m World Relays.

World record holder in the 400m and Rio 2016 Olympic champion, Wayde van Niekerk, kicked off his 2025 season with a third-place effort in the men's 200m in a time of 20.03 seconds.