Bradley Nkoana: How Akani Simbine "lit a spark in my heart"
Teenage sensation Nkoana made the crucial final changeover to the man that inspired him but anchored South Africa to their first ever 4x100m relay medal at the Olympic Games.
Athletics
The image of Bradley Nkoana raising his arm in celebration long before Akani Simbine anchored South Africa to the men’s 4x100m silver medal in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games speaks to the team’s belief in reaching the podium.
Nkoana was one of the two teenagers in the quartet who played a part in finally earning Simbine the silverware after reaching three consecutive Olympic 100m finals only to finish fourth or fifth.
The medal can, in part, be traced back to the influence Simbine, as the de facto godfather of South African 100m sprinting, had on these young athletes.
Two years before Nkoana handed the baton to Simbine for his spectacular anchor leg, the young pretender nearly usurped his hero of his crown at the national championships in Cape Town.
The then 17-year-old Nkoana finished just 0.03s behind the veteran of South African sprinting, becoming the youngest male athlete to finish on the podium in the men’s senior 100m at the senior championships. While the experience of racing in a final at the senior national championships played an important part in Nkoana’s ascent, it is a text message from Simbine that would leave an indelible mark.
“I shocked myself when I saw the result. Did I just do that?! It was quite shocking, and I had to take a moment to let it sink in,” Nkoana told Olympics.com.
“The day afterwards, AK (Simbine) sent me a message to say congratulations and that I must keep my head down and focus on my grind. That also made me happy. It lit a spark in my heart, knowing that one of the greats has seen what I can do. He believes in me, and I should also believe in myself.”
Bradley Nkoana: Two steps forward, one step back
The second place finish confirmed Nkoana’s potential as a future star of the sport adding to the 100-200m title he won at the South African U18 Championships earlier that season.
The breakthrough came as a timely reprieve after two seasons frustrated by the pandemic, a hamstring injury and a fractured heel resulting in more time on the sidelines than the track.
“I told myself that the season would be the comeback season, the season to make a statement to the world that, ‘Hey, there’s this kid from Pretoria and he’s gonna make a name for himself and this is where he starts’,” Nkoana said.
“I went into that race telling myself I had nothing to lose. I am still young, and I still have a lot ahead of me. So I was just there to show the guys that as young as I am, I am also competitive.”
Nkoana’s rise was again stunted when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in 2023, but instead of wallowing in his bad luck, the youngster turned his misfortune into an epic comeback.
The 19-year-old Nkoana brushed the setback aside to produce some of the fastest times in the most consequential season of his young career. With the Paris 2024 Olympics looming large, Nkoana had doubts swirling in his mind considering his history with injuries.
“The season has played out the way that I wanted. I didn’t expect it, judging from the previous season, I had an injury so I was just more scared about whether I would even make the South African team (to the Olympics),” Nkoana said.
“Just making the team was an honour and a privilege and made me happy. It made me realise that I belong in this game and there is still a lot that I need to do.”
Bradley Nkoana finds an extra gear
Nkoana recovered from his injury and found an extra gear in 2024 clocking the six fastest times of his career including a national junior record of 10.03 seconds.
Making his return to the senior South African championships, Nkoana confirmed his comeback coming in third behind Simbine in the men’s 100m final.
The quartet of Simbine, Nkoana, Benjamin Richardson and double world junior champion Bayanda Walaza then combined to qualify the 4x100m relay team for the Olympics.
Nkoana confirmed his status as one of the rising stars of South African sprinting when he set the national junior record in La Chaux-de-Fonds. He finished behind training partner Richardson, who crossed the line in the second-fastest time ever by a South African with 9.86s.
I was more excited about my PB because in that race I didn’t think I was close to sub-10 shape, but I knew I was in 10.0 shape,” he said.
“I thought I just wanted to break the national record, if there is a sub-10 I would be happy. When I saw the time I was happy, but I was happier for Benjamin Richardson.”
The best was yet to come for Nkoana and the South African quartet as Paris 2024 would mark a watershed moment for sprinting in the country.
South Africa emerged as a potential sprinting powerhouse on the continent with the rise of world beaters such as Wayde van Niekerk, Anaso Jobodwana, and Simbine. While Van Niekerk and Jobodwana lit up the track in the 400m and 200m, Simbine flew the flag in the short-sprint distance.
Sprinting talent mushroomed around South Africa, raising its 4x100m relay medal prospects. For all its potential, the 4x100m team could not get the rub of the green after being stripped of their gold from the 2021 World Relays when Thando Dlodlo tested positive for a banned substance. The team fizzled out in Tokyo 2020 and dropped the baton at the Eugene and Budapest World Championships.
The Paris 2024 silver lining
Luck finally swung in their favour in Paris where they clocked the second-fastest time from the heats before delivering the goods in the final.
The quartet made up of teenagers Nkoana and Walaza, Simbine, and Shaun Maswanganyi stormed into the history books in the final winning South Africa’s first-ever medal in the event at the Olympics.
With another narrow 100m podium miss still fresh in his memory, Simbine powered his nation from fifth at the final changeover to silver.
“I had faith in our team. When I gave AK (Simbine) that baton, something in me said I believe you can get that medal! I just needed to show the world that I believed in him,” Nkoana said about that iconic moment.
“We just ran to each other, and we were all in disbelief. We didn’t expect it, but we had faith.
“I remember looking at Bayanda (Walaza) and saying, ‘Do you realise what we just did?!’ Because we are young, and it is our first time at the Olympics and now we just came second. There was just so much joy.”
Bradley Nkoana: Joy replaces the pain
The joy continued well after the Olympics with Nkoana and Walaza adding more sprinting silverware to the country’s trophy cabinet at the World Athletics Under-20 World Championships in Lima.
Walaza led the charge becoming the first athlete in more than a quarter century to win the 100-200m double with Nkoana claiming bronze in the short-sprint event.
“I wanted to be the fastest junior and unfortunately that didn’t happen, but I am glad that my team-mate (Walaza) had a chance to show he is the fastest junior,” said Nkoana.
“With me walking away with a medal it also showed me that if I can do it at a junior level I want to do it at a senior level.”
Besides the host of injury setbacks, Nkoana had to navigate life as a teenager in the absence of his mother, who passed away from breast cancer when he was just 11 years old. Although he had the support of his father and grandmother, he took on the extra responsibility on his youthful shoulders to be a role model to his younger brother.
“The last thing she said was that I had to take care of my brother and I. You know how siblings are, we fight a lot,” Nkoana said.
“I made a lot of mistakes, but in 2022 I realised if I could show my brother that this is possible. Instead of fooling around, and making excuses of being young, there is not so much time. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. He just needs to put in the work and that is what he is doing right now. I am also supporting him in everything he does. It has been hard!”
If Nkoana’s achievements are anything to go by, he is certainly honouring his mother’s dying wish.