Former Africa 100m record holder Akani Simbine has beaten Kenya’s sprint star Ferdinand Omanyala to win the Botswana Grand Prix.

The 31-year-old, who holds a 100m lifetime best of 9.82, which is also the South African national record that he got at the Summer Olympics, outpaced Omanyala, the Kenyan sprint powerhouse who set the African 100m record of 9.77 in Nairobi four years ago.

This was a setback for Omanyala, who finished seventh in Budapest and opened his 2025 season with 10.08s in Johannesburg and 10.09s in Kampala.

Fresh from winning his first individual global medal at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, Simbine clocked a world lead of 9.90s to win, while Omanyala managed 10.00s at the FNB Botswana Golden Grand Prix on Saturday, April 12, 2025.

The South African sprint sensation maintained his acceleration from start to finish to see off stiff competition from Omanyala, who was among the athletes primed to cross the finish line first.

Omanyala was closely followed by Mlenga Retshidisitswe, who clocked 10.15s, whereas his Kenyan compatriot Mark Otieno finished fourth with 10.22.

This was an impressive result for Mark Otieno, who is eager to make a mark after serving his two-year ban.

After the impressive run, Simbine became the second man to break 10 seconds this year in the 100m, behind Australian sprinter Gout Gout. The teenager clocked 9.99 seconds in the under-20 100m heat before recording the same time in the final at the Australian Athletics Championships in Perth.

Simbine would be eager to collect more silverware during this season after posting a stellar performance in Botswana.

Coming in hot 🔥

🇿🇦's @AkaniSimbine flies to a world-leading 9.90 in the 100m ahead of 🇰🇪's Ferdinand Omanyala at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix.

He's just the second man to break 10 seconds this year 👀

Livestream 🔗 https://t.co/120v1XvHMn#ContinentalTourGold pic.twitter.com/APscIiDaAD

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) April 12, 2025

Before the race, Omanyala had expressed optimism, vowing to renew his winning spirit on the continent after a series of disappointments last season.

Other results

In other events, Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo delivered yet another magic, and this time on home soil, where he surged to victory in his pet 200m discipline. Tebogo left a sizeable crowd in a frenzy to win the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in a time of 20.23 seconds.

The Motswana superstar was a picture of composure as he put the hammer down coming out of the bend before taking his foot off the pedal again well ahead of the line. Tebogo would take some confidence from his first 200m race of the season, beating South Africa’s Luxolo Adams (20.42s) into second place.

Back with his beloved 🔥

Olympic champ, 🇧🇼's Letsile Tebogo takes the win in his first 200m of the season with 20.23 in front of an excited home crowd 💪#ContinentalTourGold pic.twitter.com/2m4zQ5cHbG

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) April 12, 2025