Leotlela reintroduces himself to SA athletics

The 2020 Olympic semi-finalist, Gift Leotlela, narrowly edged out his training mate, Bayanda Walaza, in the South African national championships 100m final to be crowned South Africa’s new Sprint king.

Leotlela gave everyone a reminder of what he could produce with a sub-10 (9.99) run in the men’s 100m final at the 2025 Athletics South Africa Senior Track and Field Championships on Thursday afternoon in Potchefstroom, North West.

The 26-year-old defeated Walaza by the narrowest of margins in the final, clocking 9.99 to Walaza’s 10.00.

Paris 2024 semi-finalist Benjamin Richardson took third place in 10.05.

“I don’t know how to feel at the moment,” said Leotlela, the 200m silver medallist at the under-20 world championships in 2016. “But I’m very happy.”

A memorable comeback for Gift Leotlela as he bags his first ASA Senior Champs title 👑#ASASeniorTFChamps pic.twitter.com/cooC4rZHOP

— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) April 24, 2025

Bradley Nkoana, a member of the Olympic 4x100m team who ended third at the national championships last year, failed to make the final. Written by Ntsako Mkhari