South African speedster Bayanda Walaza ended the 2025 FISU World University Games in Bochum, Germany, with a three-medal haul, adding the men’s 4x100m relay silver to his 100-200m double gold.
The teen sprinting sensation could easily have walked away with a rare golden treble if it were not for a messy final changeover from Mthi Mthimkulu. This left Walaza too much to do, chasing the flying team from the Republic of Korea.
The flawless Koreans carried the baton across the line in a winning time of 38.50 seconds with South Africa following on their heels in 38.80s. India rounded out the podium in 38.89s.
The 19-year-old Walaza bows out of the Games with an impressive medal haul after opening his campaign by winning the 100m in a time of 10.16s, holding off a strong challenge from Thailand’s Puripol Boonson (10.22).
The Olympic relay silver medallist repeated his feat from the World Athletics Under-20 championships by also winning the 200m title on Thursday.
Walaza said he would now turn his focus to the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September, where he aims to continue his rise in the global ranks.
“It (his goals) is showing up in the world stage, and showing people that South Africa can produce other sprinters [other than Akani Simbine],” Walaza said.
“I want to showcase my talent to the world and make sure that I am being recognised by the end of this year.”
Walaza said he hoped to keep some of the established sprinters on their toes and warned that he believed he could snatch a medal if they were to fall into complacency.
“So I’ll say, my goal is to make sure that I get into the finals and get a medal,” he said.
“The future is LA 2028, that’s the main goal. Beyond that, my goal is to be the best sprinter for the next decade.”