Sky's the limit for Mitchells Plain speedster
The pride of Mitchells Plain, 19-year-old sprinter Tamzin Thomas during a training session in Parow training grounds. The pride of Mitchells Plain, 19-year-old sprinter Tamzin Thomas during a training session in Parow training grounds.
All eyes may be focused on the World Athletics Championships in London, where South Africa’s superstar athletes have excelled, but back home, a Cape Town teen is putting down a marker as a future star.
Tamzin Thomas of the UWC athletics club, hopes to take the next step to realising her dream of representing South Africa at the Olympics when she jets off to Taipei to take part in the 2017 Universiade - the World Student Games.
Thomas, 19, began taking part in athletics with her twin sister, Tamlyn, at the age of 13 while at Imperial Primary School in Mitchells Plain.
She soon realised that she had more than just an average talent for sprinting when she was selected to be part of the Western Province athletics team.
“It became my passion and I had to realised that God had given me a talent to share with others,” said Thomas.
She has recently been training and competing in Europe in preparation for the Games and has been selected to take part in the 100m and 200m sprint competitions. Her personal best times are 11.55 seconds for the 100m event, and 23.35 seconds for the 200m.
Thomas trains for three hours a day from Monday to Sunday at the Parow Athletics track under the tutelage of coach Paul Gorries.
“This is a good opportunity for her to showcase her talents. I think she will do very well. The first thing is to take it round by round and ensure she makes it into the final,” said Gorries.
He said that Thomas was a very disciplined and hard-working athlete with a humble nature and a great future.
Her talents don’t stop at the track as she has also done some part-time modelling, including an ad campaign for Bridgestone.
Thomas said she enjoyed getting dressed up and putting on make-up because it was something other than athletics, but, “I don’t do it anymore, now I don’t find the time to fit everything in.”
This is not the first time the young athlete, who hails from Mitchells Plain, will take to an international athletics stage.
Pictures: Mlondolozi Mbolo
She has competed at the 2013 World Youth Championships at the age of 15, and in 2015 she won a gold medal in the 100m event at the African Junior Athletics Championships.
Last year she was part of the senior 4x100m relay team that took gold at the African Championships, and again represented the country at the World U20 Championships.
This will be her first foray at the Universiade and the shy sprinter hopes to do her country proud.
“My goal is to be the first South African woman in a final of the 100m and 200m at the world student games and from there, anything can happen,” she said.
“Running a personal best time will be a bonus.”
Thomas said her parents were crazy about athletics and were her biggest supporters.
“There was a time when they would play a old race on television and my father would watch and cheer as if the race were live.
Pictures: Mlondolozi Mbolo
"I just remind him that I am here,” said Thomas
She said that she had so many supporters and friends who wished her well whenever she competed that she couldn't help but give her all to make them proud.
Thomas has had a long athletics season and the Universiade will be her last competition for the year, after which she is looking forward to a well-earned break.
“I’ll have a short break to get my mind and feelings off athletics.”
She said her ultimate goal was to compete for South Africa at the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.
“That’s my heart’s desire. I can imagine how excited I’ll be to step on the track and to represent my country with so much joy and pride,” said Thomas adding that it was every athlete’s goal to be part of an Olympic team.
“I definitely see myself working towards the 2020 Olympics games.”
Thomas will leave for Taipei tomorrow and the 2017 Universiade will be held from August 19 until August 30.