Akani Simbine suffered his first 100m defeat of the season as he ended third at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial in Hungary on Tuesday evening.
Jamaican champion Kishane Thompson won in 9.91, with Letsile Tebogo of Botswana second in 9.99, and Simbine third in 10.01.
For Simbine, this meet has historically been a happy hunting ground in Olympic years, setting his 9.89sec South African record in 2016 and then lowering it to 9.84 ahead of the Tokyo Games three years ago.
But this was far from his best performance. He moved in the blocks early, causing the race to be restarted, and briefly causing flashbacks to the 2023 world championships in Budapest where he was disqualified in the semifinals.
Once the race got under way, Simbine got away fairly well, but he wasn’t able to keep up with the two front-runners when they hit their straps over the second half of the race.
Zeney Geldenhuys finished second in the women’s 400m in 54.86sec, the fifth fastest time of her career.
Brian Raats finished second in the men’s high jump in 2.24m.
Lythe Pillay was third in the men’s 400m in 45.24, with Zakithi Nene fourth in 45.45. Steve Gardiner of Bahamas won in 44.50, ahead of Jamaican Sean Bailey in 44.64.
Kyle Blignaut ended ninth in the shot put in 20.46m.