I still want to be the best, says hungry Akani Simbine

Akani Simbine says he still wants to be the best in the world and he’s as motivated as ever after winning Olympic silver earlier this year.

The 31-year-old finished fourth by a fraction in the 100m final at the Paris Games, but then anchored the men’s 4x100m relay team to second place with a spectacular run down the home straight.

That was his first piece of serious silverware after competing at three Olympics and six world championships — and he’s hungry for even more success.

“I’ve got a championship medal now, but for me racing is not about the medals. I love racing and I love competing and I love being on the track and being an athlete,” said Simbine.

“Getting a medal ... has actually filled me with even more [fire]. I know how close I am to an individual medal and that’s something that keeps me going and keeps me driving because of the fact that I’m literally in it.

“I’m just fired up for the next four years.”

Simbine missed the 100m podium in Paris by one-hundredth of a second in the closest sprint final in history, where all eight competitors dipped under 10 seconds and were separated by just 12 hundredths.

He has had to become used to disappointments by tiny margins in his craft, though he has also earned a reputation for his doggedness in bouncing back from them.

In Paris he had to shrug off his second straight Olympic 100m fourth spot, saying the result in Tokyo three years before hurt more.

The result in 2021 left him wanting to quit the sport, but he stuck at it only to fulfil contractual obligations before rediscovering his love for athletics.

That second wind of love lifted him up after missing the podium again this year, this time despite lowering his national record to 9.82 seconds.

In a photo finish to separate the first seven places, Simbine was three-hundredths of a second behind the new champion, American Noah Lyles and second-placed Jamaican Kishane Thompson.

Fred Kerley, the American world champion from 2022, took the bronze in 9.81 seconds.

“I’m bittersweet, but happy,” Simbine said in August. “I won't say I’m as disappointed as I was in Tokyo, but right now I’m happy. The next thing I could have also was a medal, but other than that and missing out on the medal by point zero-zero one, it's like ag.

It made everything worth it, but at the same time it’s like, you know, I got the medal, but then I was like ‘oh, OK, I got the medal but I still want to race, I still want to compete, I still want to be out there with the best of best and beating the best of the best.’ 

—  Akani Simbine

“But that’s sprinting, it’s part of the game. I’m happy with the national record, happy I was in the final, happy I put myself in a position to be the fourth-fastest man in the world.”

Simbine is already back in training for his next assignment, the 2025 world championships in Tokyo, where he will race in the same stadium where he also ended fourth at the 2020 Olympics.

That result hurt him at the time and it took a season to rediscover his love and passion for the sport.

The medal in Paris should have been a redemption, but Simbine said it was part of his journey, not his track-and-field destination.

“It made everything worth it, but at the same time it’s like, you know, I got the medal, but then I was like ‘oh, OK, I got the medal but I still want to race, I still want to compete, I still want to be out there with the best of best and beating the best of the best.’

“I still want to be part of that group and that’s what fuels me every day because I want to be the best.”