South African sprinter Akani Simbine.
Image: BackpagePix
When South Africa’s premier sprinter, Akani Simbine, steps onto the track at the historic Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria, he won't just be running for medals or personal bests. He will be running as the architect of a new era for African track and field.
The 2026 Simbine Classic marks a watershed moment: it is the first-ever World Athletics Continental Tour Silver event to be hosted and produced in South Africa. But if you ask the man whose name is on the marquee, the event represents something much larger than his own legacy.
“Today marks the start of something really great for South African athletics,” Simbine said ahead of the inaugural meet. “Yes, it has my name behind it, but at the same time, this is a story for South Africa. This is a story for Africa, and it's great to be a part of it. This is not about an academy; it's more about athletics in South Africa, what we can do, and how we take Africa to the world.”
The marquee showdown will, of course, be the men’s 100m, which will see rivals Akani Simbine and Andre de Grasse lock horns in Pretoria along with four other athletes who have dipped below the magical 10-second barrier, including African Games 100m champion Emmanuel Eseme of Cameroon, Nigerian speedster Favour Ashe, and local heavyweight contenders Shaun Maswanganyi and Retshidisitswe Mlenga.
Beyond the marquee showdowns, the meet serves a profound purpose.
African athletes have long had to travel across the globe to Europe, North America, and Asia to find elite-level competition and secure vital ranking points. The Simbine Classic flips that script, demanding that the world comes to South African soil.
“African and South African athletics have proven to the world that we deserve to be here and we deserve to be part of the World Tour,” Simbine explained. “Over the last couple of years, we've shown the world that we have the performances and the athletes. We are doing well in the World Tour, at the championships, and at the Olympic Games, and our youngsters are producing well too. It's very important that we now say to the world, 'We're ready to take the next step in the athletics world and hold such a meet.'”
Perhaps the most crucial impact of the Simbine Classic is its potential to curb the talent drain that plagues South African athletics. Many promising young stars abandon the sport after high school, often because a professional career feels too abstract and distant.
“I believe this will inspire the next generation of athletes to actually want to stay in the sport,” he said. “We lose a lot of kids when they leave high school because they don't see anything in the physical—they don't see something like a Continental Tour. They just watch the Diamond League or the tours on TV, and that feels so far from them. Bringing this here brings it closer to them, so the dream becomes more accessible and more of a reality.”
A Silver status event is a massive achievement, but for Simbine, it is merely the starting block. Armed with the blueprint of neighboring nations—Botswana, for instance, has successfully positioned itself as a major athletics hub—Simbine has his eyes firmly set on the future of the sport in South Africa.
“I hope that we can grow this into a bigger competition. We'll take it to Gold Label, hopefully a Diamond League one day, and ultimately get the graces of World Athletics to say, 'Okay, you guys are able to host a championship.' Botswana has that, so why can't we?”
“I believe that we're at that point now as South Africa and as athletes, but we still have a lot to do. We still have a lot to grow. But the growth is there.”
Viewers across the continent can catch every thrilling second of the action live on SuperSport as well as the public broadcaster, the SABC, with the broadcast beginning at 11:30 (CAT) on SuperSport Variety 4, and Africa 1 (DStv channels 209 and 227).