Simbine's coach Werner Prinsloo has made it clear that his charge needed to achieve that feat if he wanted to compete at the highest level.

"He is still young, and at the moment he can run those kind of times but I believe that he will become one of the top sprinters in the world in the next couple of years," Prinsloo told Sapa on Wednesday.

"One would like to see him run those kinds of times at sea level and that is the goal. Because it is a World Championships year, the first aim is to qualify and the other goal is go below 10 seconds."

The 21-year-old Simbine came painstakingly close to breaking through the all-important barrier at the 2014 SA Senior Championships in Pretoria when Simon Magakwe became the first South African to do just that.

It was a bitter-sweet day for the Tuks High Performance Centre (hpc) athlete as he broke through the previous national mark in a time of 10.02 seconds, narrowly missing out on a sub-10 second print.

"Going under the SA record and being among the top sprinters in the world was really great for me and the career in athletics that I am trying to build for myself," Simbine said.

"It was a great and inspiring year for me."

Simbine first grabbed the athletic fraternity's attention in 2012 when he set a new South African junior 100m record of 10.19 seconds at the Zone 6 event in Lusaka, Zambia, smashing the previous record of 10.30 set by Wilhelm van der Vijver in Pretoria in 2008.

The following year, his first as a senior athlete, was a disappointment for Simbine as he could not find the same kind of form, while he failed to progress past the heats in his maiden world championships.

While his confidence took a knock in that year, the 2014 season confirmed to the Kempton Park-born sprinter that he had the potential to go toe-to-toe with the world's fastest men.

"Going under 10 seconds will always be that number-one goal and priority as being a sub-10 second runner is not what everybody can achieve," Akani said about the constant carrot dangling in front of his nose.

Racing at his first Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last year, Simbine finished fifth in the 200m final, while he missed out on a final berth in the 100m with a fourth-place in the semi-final.

Although Simbine did not have confidence in his abilities in the half-lap sprint, he managed to post a personal best time of 20.37 seconds.

To add to a stellar year, he anchored the South African 4x100m relay to a new national record to narrowly miss out on a podium place with a fourth-placed finish.

Simbine said the Commonwealth Games had proved to be a crucial learning experience where he was exposed to the pressures of competing against the best in the world.

"I had a whole lot of doubt about the 200m at the Commonwealth Games and I didn't want to do it and I had that insecurity that I couldn't run it fast," he said.

"So it was a lesson of not doubting yourself as you don't know what your body can do and to push whenever you get the opportunity."

Prinsloo, who had been coaching Simbine for the last five years, believed South Africa could be entering a golden era in terms of sprinting.

Considering the host of young talent giving reining sprint-king Magakwe a run for his money, the blue ribbon events is sure to produce some excitement in local athletics.

The list includes Olympic 200m finalist Anaso Jobodwana, Henrico Bruintjies, Ncincilili Titi, Gideon Trotter and South African 400m record-holder Wayde van Niekerk, all born either in 1992 or 1993.

"It takes a lot of hard work to run 10.10 seconds, and there are a handful of guys that can do that and all of them are young," Prinsloo said.

"It is a boom of sprinters coming through and it is the coaches' responsibility to ensure they get the right mentoring, and the opportunities.

"If these guys shape like they can, then we could have a phenomenal relay team that can compete at the world championships."