This is the race we’ve all been waiting for: Akani Simbine versus Bayanda Walaza.
The two Olympic silver medallists will go head-to-head next Saturday when they line up in the 100 metres at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix in Gaborone.
The event organisers announced this week that the South African 4x100m relay teammates will square off at the National Stadium, and will have star Kenyan sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala for company as well.
Simbine and Omanyala have had some terrific duels in Mzansi over the years, and will begin their preparations for the world championships in Tokyo in September in earnest next weekend.
Simbine has focused mainly on the indoor arena for the first time in his career in 2025, and the hard work paid off as he clinched a 60m bronze medal at the world championships in Nanjing, China at the end of March.
That was his first individual medal at a global event, and he will want to kick on from there to claim a podium spot in Tokyo as well.
But Simbine will also have to contend with young upstart Walaza, who was part of that SA team that finished second at the 2024 Paris Olympics, alongside Shaun Maswanganyi and Bradley Nkoana.
The 19-year-old Walaza currently boasts the 100m world-lead time of 9.99 seconds that he set at Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria in early February.
The world under-20 champion in the 100m and 200m is still well short of Simbine’s SA record of 9.82, though, and will hope to inch closer to that mark in Botswana.
But another familiar face will make his return to the track in Gaborone too. The 400m world record-holder, Wayde van Niekerk, will line up in the 200m event.
Van Niekerk has had a difficult start to the year since moving back to Bloemfontein from the United States, after his new coach and stepfather, Steven Swarts, was suspended by Athletics South Africa (ASA) in early March for allegedly bringing the national governing body into disrepute.
ASA said that Athletics Free State (AFS) president Swarts had been “convicted of a serious sexual assault on a female athlete a few years ago, and was given a suspended sentence by the court”.
ASA added that “despite such conviction, he was nevertheless elected to the position of president of Athletics Free State by the membership, who appeared to have been misled about the gravity of the offence and its outcome.
“When members registered a vote of no confidence against Mr Swarts in line with the ASA constitution, they were suspended, presumably to stifle their efforts to hold him accountable in terms of the AFS constitution.
“Mr Swarts has been relieved of all his duties and functions in the sport of athletics pending the conclusion of a disciplinary enquiry to be conducted by ASA’s disciplinary committee”.
The 32-year-old Van Niekerk will come up against a top-class field in Gaborone, including Botswana’s Paris Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo and Canadian veteran Andre de Grasse.
Van Niekerk, the 2016 Olympic gold medallist, stated on his Instagram account on Friday that he was excited for the impending birth of his child, and was gearing up for the SA championships, which will be held in Potchefstroom from April 24-26.
“Massive month!!! Excitedly waiting for our new addition to the family... and final 3 week prep to National champs in Potch,” Van Niekerk posted.
Another South African Olympic medallist in Jo-Ané du Plessis – previously Van Dyk, having got married last October – will also compete in the women’s javelin competition in what is shaping up to be a star-studded meeting in Gaborone.