Zakithi Nene narrowly misses out on 400m victory in Rome Diamond League thriller

SA sprint sensation Zakithi Nene was pipped at the line by Olympic champion Quincy Hall in a 400m showdown at the Rome Diamond League on Friday night, finishing in a time of 44.23 seconds.

American Hall had stopped the clock at a season’s best 44.22, just 0.01 seconds ahead of Nene. Collen Kebinatshipi of Botswana was third, in a season’s best time of 44.51.

Nene was hoping to replicate his heroics at the Kip Keino Classic in Kenya last weekend, where he set a world lead and personal best of 43.76. However, it was never going to be easy against a strong field that also included former world and Olympic champion Kirani James of Grenada.

After a slow start, Nene was left with work to do over the final 100m to reel in haul and did so in spectacular fashion, surging ahead after the 300m mark where his split time was 32.69.

He seemed to have the race sewn up after pulling away from Hall on the home straight but the reigning Olympic champion came back at him over the last few strides and beat him as both runners dipped at the line.

“This time is my third fastest time ever. I wanted to win today but this race showed me that I am very consistent in my races,” Nene said afterwards.

His coach, Victor Vaz, feels his star runner could have done with more rest after setting his PB in Kenya, while admitting that runners’ schedules often don’t allow for that.

“The other aspect – and he admitted it afterwards – was that Hall should not have been ahead of him at the 300m mark. And that’s true because that’s his card, his ace is always being first to the 300m,” he said.

He blamed an uncharacteristically sedate 200m split time of 21.23, below the strategic target of 21 seconds, for leaving the door open for his rival to grab the narrowest of victories at the death.

“We train for that 200. We will do two or three 200s in one afternoon, all in 21-dead. So I don’t know whether he relaxed too much or whether his legs were too heavy,” he said. “It’s not an excuse, it’s a statistical reality. He got beaten by the Olympic champion, so it’s some sort of compensation.” 

Nene has already beaten the Olympic champion this season. He finished in second (44.46) behind Jacorry Patterson of the US (44.37) in the Rabat Diamond League 400m race, while Hall finished in third (44.90).  

Vaz stressed that the rivals are at different stages of their preparations for the world champs later this year. He is more than happy with his charge’s form so far this season, however.

“As a coach, I’ve got to compare his last season to this season. You can’t detract from the fact that Zakithi is amongst the best in world when last year he wasn’t. He was running mid 44s, late 44s last year, now he’s run 43s. So I think Zakithi has improved significantly and the others are in the process of peaking.”

Nene returns to South Africa on Sunday and is back in Europe on June 10, according to his coach, where he is racing in the 200m at a silver meet. It is a warm-up for the London Diamond League on July 19, which is the ace sprinter’s next big challenge.

“He never races the 200 but he wanted a race before the Diamond League,” Vaz said.

Zenay Geldenhuys, the only other South African athlete competing in Rome, took sixth place in the women’s 400m hurdles, in 55.29. Adrenette Knight of Jamaica won the race in 53.67.