South African 400m sprinter Zakithi Nene set a new men’s 400m record at the Pegaso Meeting at the Stadio Luigi Ridolfi in Florence, Italy at the weekend.
He recorded a time of 44.44 seconds, leaving Lapo Bianciardi of Italy, who finished second with a time of 46.01.
Nene (28) from Mnambithi, is taking part in this race in Italy, not long after participating in the success of the South African 4×400 relay team that returned with a silver medal at the World Athletics Relays, in Gaborone, Botswana, on May 3.
“Italy has a special place in my heart. I started right here in Italy to run in the Diamond League in 2021, in Florence.
I enjoy Italian racing because of the atmosphere and support from the spectators.
I feel in amazing shape since I started running. I want to keep running and do a time under 45 seconds so I can compete with the best runners in the world,” said Nene, quoted by WorldAthletics.com.
Nene, who has been on fire since the beginning of 2026, in April won the 400m race at the Kip Keino Classic, in Nairobi, Kenya, with a time of 44.50.
And last year he recorded his time (PB) of 43.76 taking the fifth place in the World Athletics Ultimate Championships, in Tokyo, Japan.
He is one of the athletes that South Africa will be counting on to do well in the next World Athletics Ultimate Championships, which will be held in Budapest, Hungary, in September.
Meanwhile: The Absa Run Your City 10km race has been postponed due to bad weather in the Western Cape province.
The second leg of the 10km race was expected to be held in Cape Town, yesterday morning, on Friday it was decided to postpone it because the weather forecasters confirmed that the city of Cape Town and many areas under the Western Cape province will be hit by strong winds on Sunday (yesterday) which will be followed by a cold current on Sunday (today).
The first leg of the Absa Run was held in Gqeberha in March, and was won by Adriaan Wildschutt, while Brenda Jepchirchir from Kenya came first.