Akani Simbine and coach sharpen focus ahead of World Championships

Prinsloo, who has coached Simbine since 2012, has joined him for the European season, with the pair based in Switzerland. 

While the main focus remains on training and readiness for Tokyo, Prinsloo told SABC Sport that they also make time to bond and enjoy some sightseeing before returning to South Africa after the championships.

"Look the focus is always on the training and the rest of the time there is always down time in between the training and so on so we keep ourselves busy with whatever, catching up on a series or movies,” Prinsloo said. 

“Somedays we go out sightseeing on the bicycle but in and amongst the training, we do have the down time to do whatever we need to do but the focus is always on the training."

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Simbine has received double recognition at the SA Sports Awards, earning nominations for Sportsman of the Year—alongside Alan Hatherly and Pieter-Stephanus du Toit—and Sports Star of the Year, where he is up against Tatjana Smith and Mpumelelo Mhlongo. 

Prinsloo admitted he was unaware of the nominations but expressed delight at the recognition his athlete is receiving.

"I didn't see that, so I didn't know that but yeah, it's good, it's good to be nominated for these awards and let’s see how it goes,” the coach added.

The respected coach, who has also worked with Clarence Munyai and Carina Horn, thanked South Africans for rallying behind Simbine as he chases his first major global outdoor medal at the World Championships in Tokyo.

"All I can say is thank you very much for all the support. We know Akani has a lot of support back home, a lot of people that believe in us to do the job and we're just gonna keep on doing that. We'll keep everyone in mind and we can't thank you enough for all the support."