Henricho Bruintjies (born 16 July 1993) is a South African sprinter. He broke the

10-second barrier The 10-second barrier is the physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the hallmark of a world-class male sprinter. Its significance has become less i ...

with a run of 9.97 seconds in 2015. He has represented his country at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

. He is a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

ist in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

in the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

Career

Bruintjies took up athletics as a

grade 1 First grade (also called Grade One, called ''Year 2'' in England or Primary 2 in Scotland) is the first grade in elementary school and the first school year after kindergarten. Children are usually 6–7 years old in this grade. Examples by re ...

schoolboy. In 2013, he was the South African under-23 champion in the

, defeating

Akani Simbine Akani Simbine (born 21 September 1993) is a South African sprinter specialising in the 100 metres event. He was fifth at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's 100 metres and was the 100 metres African record holder with a time of 9.84 second ...

in 10.44; at the national senior championships, he placed second behind

Simon Magakwe Simon Petrus Magakwe (25 May 1986 in Itsoseng) is a sprinter from South Africa. In 2010 he competed at the 2010 African Championships in Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the ...

in 10.58. He represented South Africa at the

2013 Summer Universiade The 2013 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXVII Summer Universiade (russian: XXVII Летняя Универсиада), was held in the city of Kazan, Russia, the most northerly city ever to host a Summer Universiade. Over 10,400 un ...

in the

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the individu ...

; the South African team placed seventh. In 2014, Bruintjies improved his personal best to 10.17 (+1.8 m/s) and ran the opening leg for South Africa's relay team at the

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

; South Africa placed fourth in a national record 38.35. Bruintjies also competed in the 2014 African Championships, taking part in both the individual 100 metres and the 4 × 100 metres relay; in the individual event, he was eliminated in the semi-finals, while the South African relay team was disqualified in the heats. 2015 was Bruintjies's breakthrough year. On 8 June, he won the 100 m ahead of fellow South African

Anaso Jobodwana Anaso Jobodwana (born 30 July 1992) is a South African sprinter. He competed in 200 metres at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London where he ran a new personal best of 20.27 seconds to reach the final. In the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, ...

at the

Josef Odložil Memorial The Josef Odložil Memorial ( cs, Memoriál Josefa Odložila) is an annual track and field meeting which takes place in June at Stadion Juliska (until 2001 at Stadion Evžena Rošického) in Prague, Czech Republic. The competition was first held i ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, running 10.06 (+1.5 m/s); the time was his personal best and a South African sea-level record. A month later, he ran 9.97 (+0.8 m/s) at near-altitude in

La Chaux-de-Fonds La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city loc ...

, breaking Magakwe's South African record of 9.98; he was the third South African (after Magakwe and Simbine) to break 10 seconds in the 100 metres. Simbine equalled Bruintjies's record at the

Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

only four days later. Bruintjies was selected for the 2015 World Championships in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. Bruintjies competed in the

100 m 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

event at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. He finished 6th in his heat with a time of 10.33 seconds and did not advance to the semifinals.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruintjies, Henricho 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Paarl South African male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for South Africa Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of South Africa Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for South Africa Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 African Games African Games bronze medalists for South Africa African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games