South African sprinting prodigy Bayanda Walaza became just the ninth South African to dip below the 10-second mark in the 100m on his way to being crowned Gauteng champion on Saturday.
Listen to this article 4 min Listen to this article 4 min Bayanda Walaza left Gift Leotlela (10.17 seconds) and Emile Erasmus (10.26 seconds) in his wake on the way to rewriting 100m history at the Athletics Gauteng North championships, which took place at Pretoria’s Pilditch Stadium on Friday and Saturday, 14-15 March.
The standout moment came from Walaza after the 19-year-old ran a blistering personal best time of 9.99 seconds to clinch gold in the 100m dash. With the victory Walaza became just the ninth South African to run a time of under 10 seconds in the distance. The Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) student is also the first junior from South Africa to manage the feat.
Walaza’s time is a world lead for 2025, although the season is still in its infancy and the mark will likely be toppled. Nevertheless, it’s just another instance of the young athlete displaying his potential to become South Africa’s greatest sprinter.
Walaza’s unorthodox running style has seen him draw comparisons to a galloping horse, and even a windmill, when he is in full stride.
“That is his survival mechanism,” Walaza’s coach, Thabo Matebedi, told Sunday Times of the starlet’s running style during…