Top SA sprint trio take on world’s best at Diamond League Final in Zurich

Three of the fastest men in South Africa will lead the country’s charge in the 100m sprint at the Wanda Diamond League final in Zurich, Switzerland, on Wednesday and Thursday: national record holder Akani Simbine, former Olympic semi-finalist Shaun Maswanganyi and junior sensation Bayanda Walaza.

Six South African athletes have made the grade after the completion of the 14 league meetings in the series, booking their places in the final that will crown the Diamond League champions. While some disciplines take place on Wednesday, all six South Africans compete in their events on Thursday.

Simbine was particularly impressive in the league meetings during the annual series, winning three races in the short dash in the early stages of the campaign. He is fresh off a fourth-place finish in 10.05 seconds at a wet Diamond League meeting in Lausanne last Wednesday.

Jamaican Oblique Seville won convincingly in 9.87, with Olympic champion Noah Lyles of the United States and Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake, who both clocked 10.02, in second and third. Blake will again be among the runners to beat in Zurich, in the absence of Seville and Lyles, who has set up a mouth-watering rematch with Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana.

The field is still a stellar one, with all eight runners boasting personal or season’s best times under 10 seconds. The US trio of Trayvon Bromell, Christian Coleman and Brandon Hicklin are just as formidable as South Africa’s challengers.

Walaza, the 2025 FISU World University Games 100m and 200m champion, had to play second fiddle to training partner Gift Leotlela in the 100m at the Brussels Diamond League meeting on Friday in a time of 10.18. He will be eager to make amends after what he admitted was a slow run.

South Africa’s one-lap king, Zakithi Nene, was a late withdrawal from the men’s 400m final, as he is recovering from an injury niggle.

Three South African women will also compete in Zurich. World indoor champion Prudence Sekgodiso lines up in the 800m, Olympic semi-finalist Zeney van der Walt goes in the 400m hurdles, and Olympic silver medallist Jo-Ane du Plessis features in the javelin throw.

Du Plessis managed second place at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne with a throw of 58.89m. Though well short of Serbian Adriana Vilagos, who won with 63.02m, Du Plessis will once again be a medal contender in a strong field that also includes Olympic champion Haruka Kitaguchi of Japan.

After putting up a fight in the women’s 800m race while trying to stick with Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain, Sekgodiso faded in the closing stages in Lausanne. Hodgkinson stormed clear to win in 1:55.69, setting a meeting record, while Sekgodiso had to settle for sixth in 1:58.76.

She will be hoping to take lessons from that race into Thursday’s encounter, where Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma and Britain’s Georgia Hunter Bell will be among the favourites.

In addition, though not challenging for a Diamond League title, Rogail Joseph will compete in the women’s 400m hurdles B race on the pre-programme.