In sprinting, the difference between a medal and missing out can be a fraction of a second. Akani Simbine knows that better than most.

He has reached Olympic finals, broken South African records and remained among the world's best sprinters for more than a decade.

Now, at 32, he has been named Sport Star of the Year at the 19th SA Sport Awards.

The awards were held at Sun City on Sunday, 23 August, celebrating sporting achievements from 2025.

The year behind the award

Simbine had an impressive 2025 season.

He won bronze in the 60m at the World Athletics Indoor Championships, his first major individual global medal.

He also anchored South Africa to 4x100m gold at the World Athletics Relays, reached the 100m final at the World Athletics Championships and won three Diamond League 100m races.

But there is much more behind this award than one successful season.

So close in Paris

At the Paris Olympics in 2024, Simbine ran the fastest legal 100m ever recorded by a South African.

He finished fourth in the Olympic final in 9.82 seconds, setting the national record that he still holds today. Bronze medallist Fred Kerley finished in 9.81, putting Simbine just one hundredth of a second away from an individual Olympic medal.

Paris still gave him his first Olympic medal.

Simbine ran the anchor leg as South Africa won silver in the men's 4x100m relay.

Before athletics, there was football

Simbine didn't always have his sights set on becoming one of the world's fastest men.

He grew up playing football before focusing on athletics. He also studied while building his sporting career, completing a Bachelor of Information Science degree at the University of Pretoria.

His international breakthrough continued to grow, and in 2018 he won Commonwealth Games gold in the 100m in Australia.

A record even Usain Bolt didn't have

One of the most interesting achievements in Simbine's career isn't a medal.

In 2025, he became the first sprinter to run the 100m in under 10 seconds in 11 consecutive seasons.

That took him past Usain Bolt's run of 10 consecutive seasons. World Athletics also confirmed the 11-year streak ahead of the 2025 World Championships.

By the end of 2025, Simbine had recorded 50 legal sub-10-second performances during his career.

It is an impressive measure of how long he has competed at the highest level.

Now he's building something for the next generation

Simbine is also starting to make an impact beyond his own races.

In April 2026, the SuperSport Simbine Classic was held at Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria.

The event marked South Africa's first World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting, giving local athletes the opportunity to compete at a higher-level international meeting at home.

For Simbine, creating those opportunities has become another part of his journey.

He has spoken about wanting younger athletes to see what is possible and experience international-level competition without always having to travel overseas.

It is a different role for someone we are used to seeing at the starting blocks, and one that could become an important part of what he leaves behind in South African athletics.

The Bottom Line

Akani Simbine's career is about more than being fast.

He has stayed among the world's best for more than a decade, set records, represented South Africa at three Olympic Games and finally earned his first individual global medal in 2025.

Now he can add South Africa's Sport Star of the Year to the list.

And at 32, he's still competing.