Akani Simbine now won an Olympic medal.
Simbine, 30, raced the final leg in South Africa’s silver medal-winning men’s 4x100m relay against Canada on Friday.
Simbine, who had previously nearly lost out on medals, left everything on the track to lead South Africa to victory.
Bayanda Walaza, a schoolboy, was the first to go, and he held his own against the more seasoned runners.
Simbine secured the silver medal by passing several racers after Shaun Maswanganyi and Bradley Nkoana’s second and third legs, similar to his performance in the heats.
The medal was South Africa’s fifth in Paris. With one day remaining in the games, the team has earned one gold, two silver, and two bronze medals.
Team SA advance to menโs 4x400m relay final
Despite coming last in their heat, the South African men’s 4x400m relay team performed well and advanced to the final.
The South Africans had a strong squad and were hopeful of winning the race, but everything went wrong when Antonie Nortje was tripped up on the third leg.
๐โโ๏ธ ๐๐ผโ'๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐โโ๏ธ#TeamSA ๐ฟ๐ฆ has qualified for the Men's 4x400m Final#ForMyCountry #Olympics pic.twitter.com/M71uWzOoAq
— Team South Africa (@OfficialTeamRSA) August 9, 2024
South Africa finished dead last as a result of Nortje’s tumble, but were given a reprieve when Nigeria was disqualified for crossing the finish line.
In the men’s 800m semi-final, Team SA’s Edmund du Plessis just lost out on the “small q” since his time of 1:45.34 was not quick enough to proceed as a non-automatic qualifier.
Marione Fourie of South Africa finished sixth in the women’s 100m hurdles semi-final with a timing of 13.01.
