Akani Simbine joins Tebogo, Ta Lou-Smith in calling out SPRINT docuseries for 'neglecting' African sprinters

Akani Simbine joins Tebogo, Ta Lou-Smith in calling out SPRINT docuseries for 'neglecting' African sprinters

Abigael Wafula 06:30 - 14.11.2024

African sprinters Akani Simbine, Letsile Tebogo, and Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith have criticized the SPRINT docuseries for neglecting African athletes' achievements and focusing primarily on American sprinters.

South Africa’s sprint sensation Akani Simbine has joined Letsile Tebogo and Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith in slamming the SPRINT docuseries for overlooking African excellence.

The show premiered on Wednesday featuring top sprinters but just like Tebogo and Ta Lou-Smith, Akani Simbine feels like the producers did not put any focus on American sprinters who have started gaining prominence when it comes to dominating the sprint races.

The show mainly focuses on triple world champion Noah Lyles and his rivalry with Fred Kerley with some snippets of other American sprinters, Jamaican sprinters, Julien Alfred, Letsile Tebogo and Marcell Jacobs, the former Olympic champion.

Expressing his frustrations, Akani Simbine shared a post on X (Twitter) saying: “Another season and yet again Sprint looks over the African story 🤷🏾‍♂️.”

This comes after Letsile Tebogo, the reigning Olympic 200m champion aired his disappointment on X too. The world 100m silver medallist said: “This is an American show.”

Earlier this season, Africa’s fastest woman also slammed the Netflix docuseries, noting that she felt disrespected with how they carried her.

Ta Lou-Smith revealed that they should focus on the winners and losers and insisted that there was no point of following her life and then omit her from the show when it is aired.

The veteran sprinter pointed out that races are not all about winning and sometimes, the events do not go as planned hence they should avoid such discriminatory acts and focus on all sprinters.

“I feel really disrespected because when you say you are going to produce a series about the fastest sprinters in the world, you should show [feature] everyone, not only those who win,” Ta Lou-Smith told The Inside Lane.

“Track and field is not only about winning, it is also about people who overcome different situations, good or bad. So, if you want to show the real life of track and field, show everything, don’t leave out others.

“Do not follow people for many hours, record them and just show the people who win, this is not good. I am the African record holder I deserve respect,” she added.

Olympian McKenzie Long has also lamented about being excluded from the show, revealing that they filmed her throughout and was later informed that she would not make it to the final show.

“I was another who they had followed all post collegiate and was informed that I wasn’t making the cuts this season. It’s sad we put ourselves outside our comfort zone for this series yet our stories can’t be told,” she said.

Tags: