Staff Reporter.
Ruswahl Samaai and Akani Simbine closed out South Africa’s World Athletics Diamond League campaigns in the series final in Zurich, Switzerland on Thursday.
After crashing out in the qualifying round of the men’s long jump at the Tokyo Olympic Games last month, Samaai had bounced back to take second place at the penultimate leg of the Diamond League series in Brussels last week.
And he then went on to grab third spot at the two-day final in Zurich, held on Wednesday and Thursday, with a 7.99m leap in the third round.
Thobias Montler of Sweden won the 2021 Diamond League title in the long jump with a best attempt of 8.17m, holding off a strong challenge from American athlete Steffin McCarter who finished second (8.14m).
Simbine, the only other South African competing in Zurich, was fifth in the men’s 100m final in 10.10.
Fred Kerley of the United States won the race in 9.87, with the top four men dipping under 10 seconds.
Earlier in the series, Simbine had won the short sprint at the Diamond League meeting in Rome in June, and he finished second at the top-flight meeting in Monaco in July, before taking fifth position at the Olympics in what has been another superb season for the African record holder.
“It’s been a very tough season for all our athletes, “said James Moloi, the President of Athletics South Africa. “It is a great achievement for an athlete to be part of the series because it by invitation only.
“Therefore, it is a big deal for us to see our athletes at the Diamond League because it allows them the chance to earn good money and also to compete against the best of the best in the world, knowing they are also a makeup of that elite class. Thank you to all athletes who have been part of it.”