Akani Simbine Is the South African Olympic Flag Bearer With Renewed Focus
In Paris, South African 100m star Akani Simbine is hoping to continue his recent winning ways after a battle with depression.
Akani Simbine is one of South Africa’s most celebrated athletes, but he somehow hasn’t produced a medal at the Olympics or World Championships in the near-decade that he’s been hitting the track. He goes into Paris with every intention to turn things around, but faces stiff competition from the likes of Botswana's Letsile Tebogo and Noah Lyles of the U.S. in the process.
However, his recent winning streak has given him more confidence going into the games. He also has a score to settle: Tokyo 2020’s fourth place was a disappointing moment that led to the athlete getting diagnosed with depression.
In an interview with Olympics.com, Simbine says he has done all the right things he could for the sport. “I ate right, I sacrificed time with my family. I did all these things. I was just the athlete. I pushed everything away and I still got disappointed. When I got disappointed, I had nothing to run back to. I had nothing that was my foundation or my security because now my whole identity doesn't know anything else than track. I was supposed to get a medal and now I didn't get a medal. So now what must happen?”
The seasoned athlete decided to focus on himself as opposed to a fleeting sports career. He couldn’t fully leave the sport; he had to carry on training, showing up for matches, and participating in the world of athletics.
“A lot of people don't know that I fell into depression, and I was down and out. I didn't want to do the sport, I didn't want nothing to do with the sport; I wanted to leave the sport. And when we started preparing for the new season, I was not in it. I was just running because I had to run, I was obligated to run, I was obligated to go to training. I didn't want to do it, and that already builds a tone for your season, that already builds where you're going this season,” he said in an interview with Making of Champs.During that time, he says, he felt like he didn’t know who he was. “I didn't love myself because I thought I'm a disappointment to myself. This was all because I didn't achieve a medal at the Olympic Games, and I discredited myself.”
His performance on the track suffered. He lost his African and Commonwealth Games record in quick succession to Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala. But he is grateful for the time out, and says that he is freer and less stressed when competing nowadays.
This renewed vigor fueled his recent bout at the London Diamond League, where he clocked a season best running time of 9.85 seconds to take second place after Lyles in first place, and before Tebogo in third place. He also stormed ahead of his opponents to win the Diamond League in Suzhou, China in April this year.
Right now, Simbine has promised himself to not let himself get to a point where, “You get so lost in being the athlete and achieving all these things, and molding your identity to athletics… to what athletics wants from you; and then when athletics doesn't go the way that you are planning to go, you lose yourself.”
Some people have speculated that this might be Simbine’s last hurrah at the Olympics, but he feels that he still has at least four more years in him.
“I've planned for myself that I want to be out of the sport after [Los Angeles 2028]. I can't stay in athletics, I’ve got family, got kids and I've got a wife. Those are things that mean more, things I need to plough into because they've sacrificed for me to have my career. Also my businesses, those are things that I need to also get into fully,” he said in the Making of Champs interview.
Simbine has another obligation going into Paris. He has been selected alongside the gymnast Caitlin Rooskrantz as flag bearers for Team South Africa. Commenting on the news, Simbine said that it is a “dream come true.”
“It's not just a personal golden moment, but a chance to represent the spirit of Team South Africa. This honor will fuel my determination to create more award-winning moments on the track in Paris,” he has said.
As he heads to Paris, Simbine says he’s “learned to trust [himself] even more,” adding that, “If you are very close to me. If you are in reach of me in the start. You're not going to beat me.” He continues: “I feel like I have the fastest top-end speed in the world right now. Once I get top-end speed, I will catch you and I will pass you and I'm going to win. That's where I'm at. And that's what my head tells me. And that's something I believe in now.”