It has been another year to remember for South African athletics with more medals in track and field events across 2018. This bodes well for the next two years, where they'll be expected to win many more at the IAAF World Championships in Qatar and the Tokyo Summer Olympics. CGTN's Sias du Plessis has more.

2018 started off where 2017 left off as the world 100m champion Justin Gatlin followed the visit of his great rival Usain Bolt and took to the track at the University of Pretoria in a 150m exhibition race, the controversial American was beaten on the night, but won over fans off the track, patiently signing autographs and posing for hundreds of pictures.

JUSTIN GATLIN 2004 OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST • 100 METERS "Fans are great, you know, when you come out here and the fans are waiting for you to come out, the crowd is roaring when you step out there on the track, it is something special man. You don't get that around the world all the time. It seems like more of they're wanting good races, they're wanting to see more races here in South Africa, and I think it is the next spot where a lot of big races will be."

The year got even better from there as South Africa claimed 13 golds, 11 silvers, and 13 bronze for a medal haul of 37 at the Commonwealth Games in April, with Akani Simbine sprinting to gold in a time of 10.03 to put his name up in lights and reaffirm his talent over 100 meters.

AKANI SIMBINE 2018 COMMONWEALTH GAMES CHAMPION • 100 METERS "It has always been a goal for me to be a dominant 100 meter sprinter, and now that I have got my first international title. I just want to do more and go back to training, and train harder, so that I'm more dominant when I go to the circuit when I get to Championships, then I can come back home with medals and win a lot of medals for the country."

Simbine went on to claim the gold at the African Champions in Asaba, but it was the rainbow nation's golden girl Caster Semenya who dominated the 400 meters and 800 meters on a track surface that left a lot to be desired, extending her unbeaten run to three years, and in the process claiming the fourth fastest time in history.

CASTER SEMENYA 2018 AFRICAN CHAMPION • 400 & 800 METERS "We are quite happy with how we performed. We go sub-50, and then we be able to run sub 1.57 on a 800 meters after a day or two, so it was just a great championship."

Ruswahl Samaai and Luvo Manyonga went head-to-head over the course of 2018 in the long jump event, and eventually it was Samaai who retained his continental title, while the Olympic silver medalist had to settle for silver in the event, capping off another great year for South African athletics, and extending what is becoming a golden chapter in the sport.

RUSWAHL SAMAAI 2018 AFRICAN CHAMPION • LONG JUMP "The guys on the circuit now medaled at a Commonwealth Games in 2014, and I think that has switched our entire mindset of what we can do, what we can achieve as a nation, and how we can dominate the world with our performance."

SIAS DU PLESSIS PRETORIA "South African athletics has flourished since the doldrums of the past, where medals were scarce, and Athletics South Africa were in financial dire straits. Now medals on the global stage are expected, and to think that the World Championships in Doha next year and the Olympics in 2020 could see even more success, it truly is a very golden and prosperous period for the rainbow nation. Sias du Plessis, CGTN, Pretoria."