Tamzin Thomas shines in the third ASA Grand Prix leg

The talented sprinter clocked 11.49 seconds to win the senior women's 100m final in front of a big crowd.

 Thomas completed the silver in the 100m and 200m finals at the same venue in the Nationals Championships earlier this month. 

"I think when I stood by the line in the start my focus was just to execute how I executed in the ASA's finals. So, it was just visualising that again because the last time I ran was at that competition three weeks back," she said.

Thomas suffered a hamstring grade 2 strain at a meeting at the Ruimsig Stadium in Roodepoort in 2021 and missed the 2022 season. She did a six-month rehab program at the North West University medical centre, giving her more strength to return to the track and win races again in the 2023 season. 

"For me, I'm taking it race by race. I think coming back from an injury that I had in 2021, I can see that I'm gaining my strength again. So, the focus is just to stay healthy and if you are healthy, you will have a healthy mind and you'll run well on the tracks," she added.

The 25-year-old is a full-time student at North West University doing her second year of Human Movement science degree. 

She missed the first two ASA Grand Prix series legs due to study commitments. 

Thomas has her final exam on Friday before shifting her focus to the University Sport South Africa (USSA) Track and Field Championships at the Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha from 4-6 May. 

She is not worried about running the World Championships qualifying time of 11.08 (100m) and taking it one race at a time.

"Sometimes we are too focused on running a fast time and then sometimes you don't enjoy it. But at the same time, I want to run and stay healthy. I always say if you are in a good mindset the times will come," she concluded.