Akani Simbine, Marioné Fourie set to compete at Rome Diamond League

Akani Simbine and Marioné Fourie will carry the South African flag into the next Diamond League meet in Rome on Thursday night.

Simbine, who finished sixth and fifth in his first two Diamond League competitions in China, takes on Olympic champion Noah Lyles of the US; Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala, who is in good form with one Diamond League win under his belt; and Italy’s Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Marcell Jacobs.

Other notable competitors in the line-up are Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo and Briton Jeremiah Azu.

American Jordan Anthony has the fastest season’s best at 9.91sec, followed by Omanyala (9.94), Lyles (9.95), Simbine (9.98) and Jamaican Ackeem Blake (9.99).

Reigning Commonwealth Games champion Omanyala and Simbine, the predecessor from 2018, are on track to renew their rivalry at Glasgow 2026, with the Kenyan leading their personal tally 9-7 after finishing ahead of the South African veteran twice this season so far.

Fourie, fresh off a respectable fourth place in Rabat on Sunday, takes on a powerful 100m hurdles line-up that could help push her to a new national record.

The 24-year-old is the youngest in the field, and her 12.49 South African mark counts as the second-slowest personal best in the field.

But she beat top names in Morocco at the weekend, including American Kendra Harrison, the Olympic silver medallist at Tokyo 2020 who goes again in the Italian capital.

Also in the race are Jamaican Danielle Williams, the world champion in 2015 and 2023; Nadine Visser of the Netherlands; 2022 European champion Pia Skrzyszowska of Poland; and 2020 Olympic bronze medallist Megan Simmonds of Jamaica.

This is exactly the type of competition Fourie wants to get faster.

The meet will be broadcast live by SuperSport on DStv channel 208 from 9pm on Thursday.

TimesLIVE