Tough test for Akani, Caster

04 May 2017 - 09:06 By DAVID ISAACSON
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REPEAT CLASH: South African Akani Simbine, second from right, will be meeting American Justin Gatlin, to his left, in the Diamond League opener in Doha this weekend.
REPEAT CLASH: South African Akani Simbine, second from right, will be meeting American Justin Gatlin, to his left, in the Diamond League opener in Doha this weekend.
Image: GETTY IMAGES

Unbeaten on home soil, Akani Simbine and Caster Semenya test their skills abroad tomorrow when they compete in lineups that resemble their finals at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

They are among four South Africans in action in the Diamond League opener in Doha, the first stop on the international calendar en route to the world championships in London in August.

The other South Africans in action are 400m hurdlers LJ van Zyl and Cornel Fredericks.

Simbine, who ended fifth in Brazil, faces two of the four men who finished ahead of him, runner-up Justin Gatlin of the US and Canada's bronze medallist Andre De Grasse.

Ben Youssef Meite of the Ivory Coast, who was sixth behind Simbine, is looking to maintain his early season form, during which he has notched up five sub-10-second runs.

"We had a good past two weeks of training and rest after the SA championships," said coach Werner Prinsloo. "He's in good shape. He wants to be a consistent sub-10 runner and that time should get him top three, maybe top two."

Simbine's 9.89sec personal best makes him the third-fastest behind Gatlin (9.74) and Jamaican Asafa Powell (9.72) tomorrow.

For Gatlin, De Grasse and Meite, this will be their first 100m of the year, making Simbine the early pace-setter with the season's best of 9.92.

Olympic champion Semenya will face silver medallist Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi and Kenya's bronze-winner Margaret Wambui as well as Poland's fifth-placed Joanna Jozwik.

Spicing it up in her debut 800m is world 1500m champion and Olympic silver medallist Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia.

In Rio all eight finalists broke two minutes, a mark that none has beaten so far this season.

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