Luxolo Adams dominated the field in Paris on Saturday night, winning his first World Athletics Diamond League meeting 200m gold in the second-fastest time for a South African, 19.82 seconds. The 25-year-old overcame his disappointment at not qualifying for the African Championships in Mauritius earlier this month by winning a spectacular match in France against Canadian favorite and Olympic champion Andre de Grasse.
WOOOOOW 😤
Luxolo Adams wins the men's 200m in a HUGE personal best of 19.82, beating Olympic champion @De6rasse who finishes 4th with 20.38.
🇿🇦🇿🇦🇿🇦
📸 : Chiara Montesano pic.twitter.com/HHKjI4ZLzM— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) June 18, 2022
Adams’ performance was barely a tenth of a second slower than Clarence Munyai’s 19.69-second South African 200m record, and also beat Wayde van Niekerk’s previous best of 19.84. Even by international standards, his time is lightning fast. Only three American athletes have run faster this season than Adams: world junior record holder Erriyon Knighton (19.49), world champion Noah Lyles (19.61), and Fred Kerley (19.80). Adams, 25, is the only South African to break 20 seconds in the half-lap event, joining Clarence Munyai (19.69), Wayde van Niekerk (19.84), Anaso Jobodwana (19.87), and Akani Simbine (19.95). With less than a month until the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, the Paris Diamond League served as a crucial warm-up for the showpiece, which will take place from July 15 to 24.
It’s a PB for Luxolo Adams 🇿🇦🇿🇦🇿🇦 #ParisDL pic.twitter.com/PrwsJeEYlv
— Nteba waka Mashaba (@NtebaMashaba) June 18, 2022
His new personal best also moves him into second place all-time in South Africa, behind only national record holder Clarence Munyai. It doesn’t mean he’ll be winning world titles anytime soon, but it does show he has the potential. Adams posted a personal best of 20.08 to win the national championship in Pretoria in 2018 and then timed 20.01 at a Grand Prix event in Paarl five days later. His breakout season included a bronze medal in the 200m at the 2018 African Championships in Asaba, which was won by compatriot Ncinci Titi, but his growth was hampered by a hamstring injury in 2019.
Adams came fifth in the SA championships final with a time of 21.14, failing to qualify for the recent African Championships in Mauritius. He arrived in Paris with grit and a pair of Adidas new carbon-fiber spikes. The manufacturer has finally caught up to its competitors’ technology, which dominated sprints in 2021. The Sprinter made a comeback statement by opening his 2022 season with an amazing 20.28 in Potchefstroom in April, and while he went on to finish fifth in the 200m final at the national championships, he has been in outstanding form in the early stages of the international season.
Sprinter Luxolo Adams had been suffering injuries for the past few years, and despite leaving Gqeberha for Tuks in Pretoria last year, he chose to return home to Posthumus.“My plan was for him not to peak at the SA champs. The plan was to peak before worlds … before the qualifying time (date) expired, which is the end of June,” said the coach. The instructor went on to explain further, saying, “I sat down with Lux. He was with me in 2017 and 2018, and in 2018, he had an excellent year. He ran in the Diamond Leagues and then he left me and went to Tuks – he thought he was going to do better there. Last year, he phoned me and he said he is coming back … He is not performing there, and he’s got a hamstring injury. They wanted to operate, but we handled it and did conditioning and everything to get him on board again and back. It took me about six months to get him to where he is now.”The Diamond League’s next leg will be placed in Stockholm, Sweden on June 30, 2022.
Luxolo Adams was born in Burgersdorp and now resides in Gqeberha. His initial love, like that of many young South African boys, was football. He began his career as a goalkeeper but was moved to the midfield after his coach noticed his quickness. After seeing Usain Bolt win gold in the 100m and 200m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he decided to start sprinting at the age of 12. He is a true son of the Eastern Cape. Mr. Adams matriculated from Ethembeni Secondary School in 2015, despite having attended several schools during his childhood. Luxolo is a Madibaz club member and a student at Nelson Mandela University.
Source of News: The Citizen
