Walaza Joins South Africa’s Sub-9.90 Club with Lifetime Best 9.89s
World Under-20 sprint champion Bayanda Walaza announced himself as one of the world’s fastest men on Tuesday after storming to a lifetime best of 9.89 seconds to win the men’s 100m at the TIPOS P-T-S Meeting in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia.
The 20-year-old South African clocked 9.89 seconds (+1.0m/s) to become only the fourth South African in history to break the 9.90-second barrier. His performance also makes him South Africa’s fastest man of the 2026 season and the only South African to have run under 9.90 this year.
Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake finished second in 10.04 seconds, while Canada’s Andre De Grasse placed third in 10.05 seconds.
Walaza, the reigning World Under-20 100m and 200m champion, has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the last two seasons.
In addition to his individual titles, he completed the sprint double at the World University Games and was a member of South Africa’s 4x100m relay team that won bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games before claiming gold at the World Athletics Relays.
His 9.89s run now places him fourth on South Africa’s all-time list behind Akani Simbine (9.82), Benjamin Richardson (9.86) and Gift Leotlela (9.87), further underlining his status as one of the brightest young sprint talents in world athletics.
