Akani Simbine found his afterburners in time to snatch a share of second place in the 100m behind Olympic silver medallist Kishane Thompson of Jamaica at the Gyulai István Memorial in Budapest on Tuesday night.
Earlier in the competition, 33-year-old Wayde van Niekerk achieved a world championship qualifying time as he ran his fastest 200m race in eight years.
But Simbine, fourth at the Paris Olympics last year, was the man to watch a month out from the global showpiece in Tokyo.
Simbine, the anchor of the 4x100m relay team that claimed silver at the 2024 Games, had a disappointing showing at the last Diamond League meet in London last month, and once again he got off to a slow start, finding himself near the back of the field.
But unlike his display just more than three weeks ago, the speedster delivered his trademark top-end speed to cross the line in 10.01 to share second place with Abdul-Rasheed Saminu of Ghana.
Thompson won in 9.95.
Simbine, 31, still has time to polish up ahead of the world championships where he will continue his quest to land the first major individual 100m medal of his career. He races in the next Diamond League meet in Poland on Saturday.
Veteran Wayde Van Niekerk finished second in the 200m in 20.07, with Benjamin Richardson taking third in 20.30 and Tsebo Matsoso seventh in 20.53. Jamaica’s Bryan Levell won in a 19.69 meeting record.
Van Niekerk clocked his 19.84 personal best in 2017, before suffering a knee injury.
But his effort on Tuesday still leaves him outside the top 20 fastest in the world so far this year, topped by American Noah Lyles on 19.63.
He is now the fifth South African to have achieved the 20.16 qualifying standard for Tokyo, though he is the second quickest of them.
Sinesipho Dambile leads on 20.01, with Bayanda Walaza on 20.08, Naeem Jack on 20.13 and Abdurahman Karriem on 20.15.
The qualifying window ends on August 24.
Zakithi Nene, owner of the 43.76 world lead, withdrew from the men’s 400m race after feeling his hamstring in the warm-up.
In his absence the race was won by Zambia’s Commonwealth Games champion Muzala Samukonga in 44.11.
Mondray Barnard ended seventh in the men’s 110m hurdles in 13.53, well behind American winner Cordell Tinch in 13.20.
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