Simbine is first South African and 13th African to make World Indoor Championships 60m final

Multiple World and Olympics 100m finalist, Akani Simbine ran 6.53 seconds to equal his personal best on his way to making history as the first South African man to run in the final of the 60m event at the World Indoor Championships.

The 31-year-old sped home second behind Eloy Benitez of Puerto Rico to clinch the second automatic qualifying spot in the third semifinal heat.

He has now become the 13th African man after John Myles-Mills of Ghana, Chidi Imoh (Nigeria), Frankie Fredericks (Namibia), Davidson Ezinwa (Nigeria), Deji Aliu (Nigeria), Olusoji Fasuba (Nigeria), Isaac Uche (Nigeria), Ibrahim Kabia (Sierra Leone), Aziz Ouhadi (Morocco), Gerald Phiri (Zambia), Sean Safo-Antwi (Ghana ) and Arthur Cisse of Cote d’Ivoire.

Simbine, who has been drawn to run from lane three, just inside one of the pre-championships’ favourite, USA’s Ronnie Baker, will also be keen to make further history for the rainbowl nation as the first man to race to the podium.

If he wins any colour of the three top medals, he will become only the sixth African man to race to the podium in the history of the Championships.

Ghana’s Myles-Mills won Africa’s first medal in 1989, followed two years later by Imoh of Nigeria who picked the bronze medal.

Fredericks won a silver medal in 1993 and Ezinwa won Nigeria’s second broze medal four years later in Paris, France.

There followed a drought until 2008 when Fasuba, after a fifth placed finish two years earlier sped into history books as the first Nigerian nay African man to win the gold medal in the event.

Since Fasuba’s feat, Africa has not moved near the podium with Phiri, now suspended provisionally by the Athletics Integrity Unit for an anti-doping rule violation, placing fifth in 2014 with a 6.52 Zambian record.