A new South African 200m sprint champion has been crowned and she is 21-year-old Tamzin Thomas from Cape Town’s Mitchells Plain.
Thomas brought home the gold in the 200m sprint at this year’s South Africa Senior Championship in Germiston last week, proving she is a force to be reckoned with.
With an astounding time of 23.64 seconds, she sprinted to first place even though her personal best is actually 23.12 seconds.
Last year Thomas won gold for the 100m sprint and her team took home the silver medal for the 400m relay.
She is beside herself with excitement. “This win means a lot to me. Seven years ago, I was 15-years-old and I competed at the Germiston stadium for my very first South African Championship as a sub-youth. Being crowned the South African Champion at the very same stadium is amazing,” Thomas told the Daily Voice Newspaper.
The athlete feels she could have done even better under different circumstances.
“I felt a bit disappointed as it was not my personal best. My personal best in the 200m is 23.12 seconds. The weather wasn’t great. When I was done with my race, I felt nauseous because it was so cold,” Tamzin said in her interview.
Even though Thomas is attending her second-year in Sport Science at the University of Johannesburg she makes a point to visit her hometown often and is preparing to set off for Europe soon.
“I was recently selected to compete in the world relay championship in Japan from May 11-12. From there, I will be attending the World Student Championships in Napoli, Italy,” she said.
If her team manages to place in the top 16 in Japan, they will go through to the World Championships, to be hosted in Doha this September.
She shared a few words of advice to fellow athletes.
“Never give up. Always work hard even if you are alone on the track. Never forget where you come from and don’t let your circumstances ever define you.”
Pictures: Facebook/Tamzin Thomas
