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The rapid and sensational rise of South African sprint ace Anaso Jobodwana in the past three years has positioned the 23-year-old among the young contenders capable of derailing Usain Bolt’s plans of going out on top.
Bolt (29) hinted that this year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, would be his last.
The tall Jamaican believes that if he wins gold in Rio, his legendary status will be cemented.
But performances at last year’s IAAF World Championships in China hinted at the potential of the young brigade to steal Bolt’s thunder.
The likes of Jobodwana, Canada’s Andre De Grasse (20) and Trayvon Bromell (20) of the US were all in the mix with the six-time Olympic champion for individual sprint medals at the Beijing global meeting in August.
The trio forced their way on to the podium with bronze medals.
Jobodwana was third in the 200m behind Bolt and the US’s Justin Gatlin, while De Grasse and Bromell were tied for bronze – also behind Bolt and Gatlin – in the 100m.
The group attained their feats after a spectacular season.
Jobodwana, with a season best of 19.87, ended the year ranked fourth in the 200m.
Only Bolt (with a season best of 19.55), Gatlin (19.68) and Jamaican Rasheed Dwyer (19.80) ran faster than the Eastern Cape-born sprinter.
Jobodwana agonisingly missed out on the Diamond League prize to Panama’s Alonso Edward (26), who had lost the world championships bronze to the South African in a photo finish in Beijing a few days earlier.
De Grasse claimed a double sprint at the Pan American Games and, with his personal best times of 9.92 in the 100m and 19.88 in the 200m, became the first Canadian in history to run both a sub-10 and sub-20 in the short sprints.
His 200m mark is a national record.
Bromell clocked 9.84 seconds at the US Outdoor Track and Field Championships last year, a time that made him the 10th-fastest man in history.
He finished the year ranked among the four fastest men in the 100m, behind compatriot Gatlin (9.74) and Jamaicans Bolt (9.79) and Asafa Powell (9.81).
Even more interesting is the fact that De Grasse has just teamed up with Jobodwana at Altis, the high-performance training centre in Phoenix, Arizona, while Bromell has signed with Bolt’s agent, Ricky Simms, at Pace Management.
Based on these youngsters’ consistency in the past season, it is just a matter of time before they dispel the notion that everybody else runs for bronze in a territory dominated by Bolt and Gatlin.
