This year, as team South Africa heads to Tokyo for the 2025 World Athletics Championships, they are determined to end a run of four consecutive editions without a medal. And with their top sprinters participating, South Africa’s chances of bringing a medal home looked positive. However, one of their key players Bayanda Walaza had to opt out after failing to recover from a hamstring injury, which caused the team to visit Japan without their star sprinter.

“Following a comprehensive medical evaluation, ASA has determined that Walaza’s hamstring injury … will prevent him from participating in the championships,” Athletics South Africa said in an official statement. He was entered to compete in the 100m and 4x100m at the World Athletics Championships. However, the 19-year-old Walaza was injured in the men’s 100m Zurich Diamond League final. He ran in his trademark style, head bobbing side to side, but 70 meters into the race, tragedy struck.

The track and field athlete started to stumble, and all of a sudden, he was last in the race. Though Walaza showed immense bravery by somehow finishing the race in 12.10 seconds, he looked like he was in pain. There were doubts about whether he would be coming to the World Championship. But with the recent update, the doubt stands clear now.

South Africa saw a hope for the World Championship as Bayanda Walaza achieved top form throughout the season. Walaza lit up the sprinting world this year with a personal best of 9.94s in the 100m at Zagreb that broke the junior 100m record with 9.99s. He also claimed 100m (10.16s) and 200m gold, along with the men’s 4x100m relay silver at the 2025 FISU World University Games.

However, in the wake of his injuries, Walaza had to withdraw from the World Championships roster. He’ll be now replaced by Retshidisitswe Mlenga, who clocked his career best of 9.99 seconds this year in the Raiffeisen Austrian Open back in July. “I haven’t run a 100m on a world stage like that, so when I think about it, already I’m freaking out, but I’m trying to enjoy the process,” said the 25-year-old. Mlenga will now team up with 49-member squad, to end the medal drought for South Africa.

South Africa heads to Tokyo with 49-athlete contingent

The 49-member squad will be led by Wayde van Niekert (400m record holder), Zakithi Nene (top ranked 400m runner in the world in 2025), and Akani Simbine (3x Olympic 100m finalist). Interestingly, while Wayde van Niekert will compete in 200m and 4x400m rosters, Nene will participate in 400m and 4x400m heats.

On the other hand, Simbine will compete in the 100m and 4x100m relay at the World Athletics Championships starting this Saturday in Tokyo. Previously he finished fifth in the 100m at the 2016 Rio Olympics and fourth at both the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics. He is one of the best sprinters to come out of South Africa, but he doesn’t have any big individual medals outdoors. He won bronze in the 60m at the 2025 World Indoor Championships in Nanjing.

The track and field athlete recorded 9.90 seconds in the 100m at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix, which was the world-leading time. In a recent interview in Tokyo, he said, “I’m feeling confident going into this weekend, so I’m looking forward to it and, yeah. Everything is good, we’re good, the camp is good, so yeah.” With Noah Lyles and Kishane Thompson in the race, it’s not going to be easy to get a gold or silver in Tokyo. Kenny will also be not easy to catch, and so would be Letsile Tebogo, but Simbine has the potential to surpass his counterparts.