From left, Akani Simbine, Bradley Nkoana, Shaun Maswanganyi and Bayanda Walaza wave to the Stade de France crowd after receiving their silver medals. Photo: AFP
You wouldn’t blame Mzansi for still celebrating Team South Africa’s 4x100m relay silver medal at the Paris Olympics, even though it happened last Friday.
For the athletes and coaches themselves, it may be feelings of absolute joy and relief simultaneously, considering the long road they’ve had to run to reach such immense success.
When Akani Simbine screamed across the finish line at the Stade de France on August 9 to edge out Great Britain for second spot – behind gold medallists Canada – it was a moment to savour for the 30-year-old SA star as he had finally earned an elusive Olympic medal.
But for the team as a whole, it was just reward for their journey over the last few years, not just for those who competed in Paris: Simbine, Shaun Maswanganyi, Bradley Nkoana and Bayanda Walaza.
The last time SA had won a relay medal of real consequence was at the 2001 world championships in Edmonton, Canada, when Morné Nagel, Corné du Plessis, Lee-Roy Newton and Mathew Quinn claimed a silver medal behind USA – which was eventually upgraded to gold after American sprinter Tim Montgomery was banned for doping.
A similar fate befell SA following the 2021 World Relays in Poland, where they won gold via Thando Dlodlo, Gift Leotlela, Clarence Munyai and Simbine – but following Dlodlo’s positive dope test, the team were stripped of their title.
Simbine made his big breakthrough at the 2016 Rio Olympics, when he finished fifth in the 100m final, and it was hoped that he would form the nucleus of a top 4x100m relay squad.
But SA didn’t compete at the 2017 World Relays, missed out on the final in 2019, and then finished fifth in the 2019 world championships final.
Then it was the ill-fated 2021 World Relays, which was followed by the disappointment at the Tokyo Olympics in the same year, after a baton mix-up between Munyai and Maswanganyi in the heats ended their challenge.
Then SA ended sixth in the 2022 world championships in Eugene, US, with Simbine, Munyai, Leotlela and Emile Erasmus.
They were real medal contenders at the 2023 world championships in Budapest – but another baton mix-up, between Benjamin Richardson and Munyai, saw them fail to finish.
They tried to fine-tune their technique at this year’s World Relays in May, but missed out on the final by finishing 14th overall in the qualification round with 38.83. At least they won the repechage heat in 38.08 with Walaza, Richardson, Nkoana and Simbine to qualify for the Olympics.
Things looked up again after the pre-Olympics SA team camp in Montpellier.
But there was more adversity ahead of the Paris 2024 heat as young star Richardson was ruled out with a hamstring injury he sustained in his 200m heat, which could have been the difference between getting a medal or not.
That meant matriculant Walaza had to step up, and a total change in the set-up was required as Richardson had been the usual second runner.
SA relays coach Paul Gorries, though, was confident that they could reach the podium even at that stage, and his team proved him right as they produced a superb 37.94 time in the Olympic heats to reach the final.
“He (Walaza) showed us his capabilities at World Relays as well. We had time together in Montpellier with Sascoc, just before the Games,” Gorries told Independent Newspapers yesterday.
“Before going there, I already knew I wanted us to run the relay – what’s Option A and Option B, and with Benji getting injured, we went to B.
“My initial starting line-up was going to be Shaun, to Benji, to Bradley to Akani. We trained Walaza both ways, and (Sinesipho) Dambile was also an option at three, but we couldn’t use him due to his injury.
“It (Richardson’s injury) was unfortunate. There was absolutely no sign of a hamstring injury or anything. I’ve been working with Benji for nearly four years, and in four years, he’s never had an injury.
“The heat was more nerve-wracking because of the heat that we drew. We had Italy, Canada, Jamaica, USA and Japan, and I knew that if we got through the heat well and beat a lot of these guys, we were in with a medal shout.”
Not even Simbine’s near-miss in the 100m final, where he finished fourth in a new SA record of 9.82, could stop the team in the relay decider.
Maswanganyi shifted to second, Walaza started out of the blocks, and Nkoana was third – and the rest is history, with Simbine motoring down the final straight to clinch the silver medal in a new African record of 37.57, behind Canada’s 37.50, with Great Britain third in 37.61.
“Akani is a fighter, and we know if we put him into a good position for that last leg, we are always in with a medal shot,” Gorries said.
“We had to make sure that he is there with the guys, as his top-speed in the relay is completely different to a 100m race.
“You know how long I have been doing this, and I’ve always seen the potential of the 4x100m, and the 4x400m – I think we have more potential now in the 4x400m than what we had in the past, and that’s something to build on as well.
“But I would say it was a relief, more for me … Now people can actually see what was my vision and thinking behind this the whole time.
“We have a lot to work on still and a lot of improvement going forward, and I don’t know what the plan is with ASA now.”
The 4x400m relay team, without a battling Wayde van Niekerk – who was nursing a back problem for most of the season – finished fifth in their final in 2:58.12, which was also a new SA record.
Gardeo Isaacs, Zakithi Nene, Lythe Pillay and Antonie Nortjé gave it their all, and Gorries is positive about their future, as well as the rest of the athletics team, despite them producing just two medals in Paris – including Jo-Ané van Dyk’s javelin silver.
“The guys still ran a national record in the final. After World Relays, we thought we were in with a medal shot, but if you look at the times, we ran faster and finished fifth,” the coach said.
“I think we are short of two more strong boys in the 4x400m to do some real damage in LA, but we have to see what the plans are going forward.
“Overall, it was a young team – we mustn’t forget. Prudence (Sekgodiso, who reached the 800m final) was young, Shaun is young, Benji, Walaza …
“Akani and them are in the older generation, but even someone like Francois (Prinsloo, discus thrower) is only 22, Jo-Ané … Most of the guys can give you another Olympic cycle, and some even two or three more, like Bradley and Walaza.
“It’s up to ASA (on Gorries’ future). If they want me to continue, I will continue. If they have other plans … ”
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