Who Is South Africa's Newest Household Name, Athlete Akani Simbine?

Breaking records and making the nation proud! 🇿🇦
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Akani Simbine and Yohan Blake of Jamaica after the men's 100m final at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. REUTERS/Jeremy Lee
Reuters Photographer / Reuters

South Africans are singing Akani Simbine's praises following a stellar performance from the athlete at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia.

He is now the first South African male to win a gold medal at the games for the 100m, and he did it in an impressive 10.3 seconds – beating former world champion, Jamaican Yohan Blake.

Simbine was born and raised in Johannesburg and attended Edenglen High School in Edenvale. According to an Instagram post, his journey to greatness all started when he was competing in Zambia.

While studying information science at the University of Pretoria, Simbine equalled the South African record while setting an event record on July 9, 2015 – in his winning run at the 2015 Universiade in Gwangju, South Korea.

Simbine broke the South African record in the 100m with a time of 9.89 seconds at the Gyulai István Memorial in Székesfehérvár, Hungary, on July 18, 2016.

The 24-year-old won the 100m event in a time of 9.99 seconds,during the first meet of the 2017 IAAF Diamond League in Doha.

He is also a fashion lover, and often trades in his sportswear for something a bit more suave – like designer suits from Ephymol by Ephraim Molingoana.

Sambine is friends with sports stars Caster Semenya and Wayde van Niekerk, who feature regularly on his social media pages.

Besides smashing world records and dressing to impress, Simbine is also in a relationship with journalist and "Show Me Love" host Abigail Visagie.

He graced the cover of Men's Health last year, flaunting his perfectly chiseled abs. A work of art!