His performance is a massive improvement on his previous best time of 49.29s. It was the first time he ever dipped under 49 seconds. Zazini also set a new African and South African junior record. Equally impressive is that his time is so far the ninth fastest this season in senior international athletics.
The race turned out to be a near repeat of last year’s events at the IAAF Junior Championships where the champion, Zazini, and the bronze medallist, Alison Santos (Brazil), were the main protagonists.