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Cape Town - Although he was unable to find top gear on Sunday, Akani Simbine will be among the podium favourites in the series final next month after securing his place in the battle for the IAAF Diamond League 100m crown.
Simbine settled for seventh place at the 11th leg of the series in Birmingham, England over the weekend.
Running into a +2.0m/s headwind, the SA record holder crossed the line in 10.15 seconds, with former world champion Yohan Blake of Jamaica taking the win in 10.07.
Simbine had also clocked 10.15 in the heats earlier in the day.
While he dropped one place to third in the series’ standings, he had already qualified for next month's IAAF Diamond League finals.
The 12th of 14 legs in the top-flight campaign will be held in Paris, France on August 24, 2019.
“Days are not the same and this was no different. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose,” so said the President of Athletics South Africa, Aleck Skhosana.
“But there is always a lesson even in a loss which is what Simbine, his coach and his support staff will have to work from to be the better athlete he can be.
“As he works on his strategies and programme, we believe he will peak at the right time when the IAAF World Championships are held in Doha next month.”
