100m athletes Simbine and Bruintjies challenge each other
Olympic hopeful Akani Simbine has just managed to become the sole holder of the South African 100 metre record, but his coach Werner Prinsloo said there will be no time for celebrations.
It will be back to the grindstone immediately.
On Tuesday the Tuks/HPC athlete won the 100 metres at Athletics South Africa's Night Series, meeting in 9.96 seconds to record a new national record.
It was only the second time that a local sprinter managed to run a sub-10 seconds race in South Africa. It would be the fifth time if international races are also taken into account.
Sport is all about rivalries and Simbine (Tuks/HPC) will face another Olympic hopeful and friend Henricho Bruintjies (Tuks) in the short sprint's final at the Gauteng-North Championships at Pilditch on Saturday.
This may well be the beginning of a rivalry that could grip the imagination of sports fans across the country.
Before Simbine 'blitzed' out of his block on Tuesday, the two of them shared the national record.
Bruintjies missed most of last year's local season because of injuries and it will be the first time in nearly a year that they will race each other in a local sprint.
Judging by his performance on Tuesday, Simbine should be the favourite - but rumour has it that Bruintjies is in good form.
Prinsloo, who coaches both of them, is now the proverbial man in the middle.
He is, however, not prepared to stick out his neck and make any predictions of who he expects to win.
Edited by Suné du Toit