Commonwealth Games champion and Dimbaza-born Sinesipho Dambile scored SA’s only podium finish at the Diamond League finale in Brussels on Saturday night as he delivered another 200m sub-20-second performance.
The 24-year-old finished second in 19.89 behind American Kenneth Bednarek, who equalled his own 19.62 world lead.
African sprinters took the next two places, with Zimbabwe’s Makanakaishe Charamba ending third in 19.99 ahead of Botswana’s Olympic champion, Letsile Tebogo, in 20.01.
This was the first time Dambile has beaten Tebogo in a race, having crossed the line in his wake in all nine of their previous encounters.
And the South African felt there was room for improvement before the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest next weekend.
“I’m still messing up my race a bit,” Dambile said.
“I was struggling on the bend, and that’s something I need to fix before the ultimate championship.
“I’m confident that I will do even better than today [Saturday].
“It’s an important goal for me, but I wouldn’t say that it’s the most important race of the season for me.
“Every time I show up, I make sure I give my best.”
More impressively, perhaps, this was the sixth time this season that he has dipped under 20 seconds — seventh if the 19.82 he ran in the Glasgow semifinals with an illegal tailwind is included.
He broke the barrier for the first time in 2025, and now he is SA’s most prolific competitor over the distance with seven legal runs in total.
Wayde van Niekerk has been sub-20 on three occasions, with Clarence Munyai, owner of the national 19.69 record, Luxolo Adams, Anaso Jobodwana, Akani Simbine, Shaun Maswanganyi and Benjamin Richardson having done it once each.
Dambile’s 19.77 in April and then 19.74 in June made him the second-fastest South African over the distance.
In the women’s 800m, where Swiss favourite Audrey Werro edged Femke Broeders-Bol of the Netherlands by six-hundredths of a second, Prudence Sekgodiso finished eighth, more than five seconds behind in 2min 02.34sec.
On Friday night, Gift Leotlela, Zakithi Nene and Simbine all ended outside the top three in their events. — TimesLIVE