Luvo Manyonga, the dependable, did it again yesterday.
The world long-jump champion scored another Diamond League triumph but the rest of the South African brigade in action in Birmingham failed to impress.
African and Commonwealth Games champion Akani Simbine, after winning his 100m heat in 10.07sec, slowed to 10.09 in a final dominated by two new stars who seem set to dominate for years to come.
America's world championship silver medallist Christian Coleman won in 9.94sec, a fraction ahead of Briton Reece Prescod, who was credited with the same time.
Noah Lyles, the fastest man over 200m so far this year, was third in 9.98 after a good late surge.Simbine had a decent start but never got into the race, finishing sixth behind Jamaica's Yohan Blake (9.99) and Britain's Zharnel Hughes (10.05).
It's been a long season for SA's athletes, many of whom competed at the Commonwealth Games in Australia in April and then the continental championships recently.
Perhaps it's taken its toll.
But Manyonga seems unaffected. The 27-year-old cracked an 8.53m meet record for a comfortable victory in the long jump, but even his second and third-best efforts, of 8.47 in the sixth round and 8.42 in his opening jump, would have been good enough.
Jamaican Tajay Gayle on 8.17 was his nearest rival and compatriot Zarck Visser, the silver medallist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, was fourth in 7.90.
It was a good return for Manyonga after finishing second at the African championships in his last outing, and now he is looking to prepare for the lucrative Diamond League final in Zurich on August 30.
"I'm quite happy with that," said Manyonga, the Olympic silver medallist from 2016. "I was surprised that it was a meeting record and it shows I'm in good shape. I will go back home now and prepare for the finals in the coming weeks."The long jump in Birmingham was not part of the Diamond Race, but Manyonga had already qualified for the Zurich final with three victories from four meets.
Also eligible for Switzerland is the one man Manyonga has struggled to beat this season, 20-year-old Cuban newcomer Juan Miguel Echevarria, owner of the 8.68m world lead.
That's 10cm further than Manyonga's season's best, and three better than his SA record from April 2017.
The only other men to beat Manyonga in serious competition this year - countryman Ruswahl Samaai and Olympic champion Jeff Henderson - are also in the mix.Dominique Scott ran a season's best 9min 01.64sec in the 3,000m, but that was good enough only for last spot in 17th, nearly 30 seconds behind winner Agnes Tirop of Kenya. Scott achieved her 8:41.33 best in Monaco last year.
Wenda Nel's poor form of the past several weeks continued as she finished last in the 400m hurdles, fading as she entered the home straight to clock 57.51. She hasn't broken 55 seconds since the Commonwealth Games in April.
Antonio Alkana failed to advance past the heats of the men's 110m hurdles, finishing sixth in 13.59, just four-hundredths of a second slower than the slowest qualifiers.
And without Caster Semenya, out because of illness, Sifan Hassan of Holland controlled the women's 1,500m, pushing with 200m to go to win in 4min 00.60sec...