London — Sprinter Akani Simbine steps onto the world championship track here on Friday night searching for three-hundredths of a second to reach his dream. That was the difference between his fifth-place finish and the podium at the 2016 Rio Olympics; this time he is hunting for the highest-ranking silverware of his career to date. Some of his more illustrious compatriots are also in action on the opening day of the global showpiece, such as Caster Semenya, who lines up against world record-holder Genzebe Dibaba in their 1,500m heat, as well as the long-jump trio of Olympic silver medallist Luvo Manyonga, Ruswahl Samaai and Zarck Visser. With Wayde van Niekerk entering the fray on Saturday in the 400m heats, SA looks likely to surpass its previous best championship haul of four medals, two of them gold, at Paris 2003. Simbine, with a 9.89 personal best, has the talent to contribute to the tally. He has broken the 10sec barrier on 15 occasions — the same as Carl Lewis — and only 11 o...
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