Summary
– Akani Simbine wins Oslo Diamond League 100m.
– Timed season’s best 9.94s, defeating Marcell Jacobs.
– Third consecutive victory for Simbine.
– First sub-10s time this season.
South African Akani Simbine timed a season’s best 9.94 seconds to upstage Italy’s Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs over 100m at the Diamond League meet in Oslo on Thursday.
Simbine was slow out of the blocks but produced a strong second half and a savage dip to claim victory ahead of Japan’s Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, in 9.99sec.
It was the third consecutive victory for Simbine and second in a row on the Diamond League professional circuit to start the outdoor season.
It was also his first clocking under 10 seconds this season across five races, including heats and semifinals. His previous best was 10.01 achieved at the April 27 Diamond League in Suzhou, China and eight days earlier in the final of the South African championships.
Japan’s Abdul Hakim Sani Brown was second in 9.99 while Emmanuel Eseme of Cameroon ran 10.01 for third at the Diamond League meet in Oslo, Norway.
Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs was fourth in 10.03, while Britain’s Jeremiah Azu, who cracked the 10-second barrier for the first time in his career five days earlier, suffered an injury when leading mid-race and limped to the finish line.
Gebrhiwet threatens world mark in 5,000m
Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet won the men’s 5,000 in the second fastest time in history with a sizzling final lap.
The 30-year-old, whose last major global medal on the track was bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics, passed teammate Yomif Kejelcha with one lap remaining to cross in 12 minutes 36.73 seconds, clocking a blistering 54.99 on his final lap.
Ingebrigtsen dives to win men’s 1,500m
Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway hurled himself across the finish line to win the men’s 1,500.
Ingebrigtsen, who had been beaten by British arch-rival Josh Kerr in the mile five days earlier in Eugene, Ore., lunged at the finish line to hold off hard-charging Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot.
The photo finish showed the Olympic champion diving to cross the line in three minutes 29.74 seconds, the world’s fastest time this season and 3-100ths of a second quicker than Cheruiyot.
Akani Simbine Profile
Akani Simbine (born 21 September 1993) is a South African sprinter specialising in the 100 metres event.
He was fifth at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men’s 100 metres and was the 100 metres African record holder with a time of 9.84 seconds set in July 2021 until broken by Ferdinand Omanyala in September 2021.
Simbine was a World Championships finalist in the men’s 100 metres in 2017 (fifth) and 2019 (fourth), and was 100 metres champion at the 2018 African Championships and 2018 Commonwealth Games.
In the 4 × 100 metres relay, he helped South Africa become champions at the African Championships in 2016 and 2018, and place second at the 2018 Commonwealth Games with a South African record time of 38.24 seconds.
He anchored South Africa to gold at the 2021 World Relays. Simbine has finished inside the top 5 in the last four major championship 100m races, including 4th in 2019 World Athletics Championships – Men’s 100 metres and Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men’s 100 metres missing out on the bronze medal to Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse.
Personal bests
| Event | Time (s) | Wind (m/s) | Venue | Date | Notes |
| 100 m | 9.84 | +1.2 | Székesfehérvár, Hungary | 6 July 2021 | |
| 9.82 A w | +2.8 | Pretoria, South Africa | 15 April 2021 | Altitude-assisted and wind-assisted | |
| 150 m | 15.08 A | NWI | Johannesburg, South Africa | 15 February 2020 | Altitude-assisted, no wind information |
| 200 m | 19.95 A | +1.7 | Pretoria, South Africa | 4 March 2017 | Altitude-assisted |
| 4×100 m relay | 37.65 | — | Doha, Qatar | 4 October 2019 | African record |
| 4×200 m relay | 1:20.42 | — | Yokohama, Japan | 12 May 2019 | African record |
