South African sprinter Akani Simbine (Lintao Chan/Getty Images)
- South African sprinter Akani Simbine won the 100 metres at the Oslo Diamond League on Thursday night in a time of 9.94 seconds.
- Japan's Sani Brown Abdul Hakim (9.99) came in second, and Cameroon's Emmanuel Essemé (10.01) came in third.
- Olympic champion Marcel Jacobs of Italy (10.01) had to settle for fourth place.
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South Africa's Akani Simbine recorded a season-best time of 9.94 seconds in the 100 metres at the Diamond League meet in Oslo on Thursday, beating Olympic gold medallist Marcel Jacobs of Italy.
Sinbin got off to a slow start but came out strong in the second half and made a ferocious dip to beat Japan's Sani Brown Abdul Hakim by 9.99 seconds to win the race.
Emmanuel Essemé of Cameroon completed the podium in 10.01 seconds, with Jacobs fourth (10.03).
“In the end it rained and maybe that affected the race but at the end of the day, rain or shine, we all have to run the 100 metres and finish first,” Simbine said.
“I'm happy that things went well today, but there's still a lot to work on and a lot to improve on. I'm happy with my performance and I hope to play even better heading into the Olympics.”
“Today I let the world know that I'm here. My target today was to win and I achieved it. A win always gives you confidence as you get closer to Paris,” added the 30-year-old Simbine.
The 29-year-old Jacobs said he would now turn his attention to the European Championships in Rome from June 7-12.
“I'm feeling good but I haven't gone under 10 minutes yet, but today it was important to have a good feeling in the race,” said the Italian.
“I did that today and now I'm starting to get myself in shape to perform at my best in front of my hometown fans at the European Championships in my hometown of Rome.”
Jacobs won a shock gold medal at the coronavirus-delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, adding a second gold medal in the 4x100m relay, before going on to win the 60m at the world indoor event in Belgrade in 2022 and the 100m at the European Championships later that year.
But he suffered a number of serious injuries, which he says prompted him to leave Italy for the United States to train at Lana Ryder's camp with Canadian Olympic 200m gold medallist Andre de Grasse and Sani Brown.
“The last two years have been tough with injuries, but now I've moved to the United States to train and I have a new coach so things are going well,” Jacobs said.
“It's an Olympic year and of course I want to defend my title, so I can't push my body too hard too quickly, but I'm ready.”
Sani Brown seemed pleased with his second place finish, a time that may have spared him a tiring trip back to Japan.
“Today went better than I expected,” he said. “My season has been up and down and I wasn't happy with my race two weeks ago, so I reset and changed a few things.”
“Today was much better but of course there are still areas to improve on. Tomorrow I go to Stockholm and then on Sunday I play in the Diamond League.”
“It's a good experience for a championship race where you have to get faster every round. Tonight I met the qualification criteria for the Japanese team so I might not have to travel for the trials. This is great news for me and it means I can stay in Europe longer.”