Getting out of the blocks will be the vital cog for Carina Horn if she is to break through the magical sub-11 second barrier at the Rio Olympics.
Horn wrapped up her Rio Games preparation at the London Diamond League at the 2012 Olympic Stadium on Saturday with a somewhat disappointing eighth-placed finish in 11.22.
That performance came less than an hour after she produced a strong time of 11.15 in a heat to end fourth and go through to the final.
The key to the heat time, and her 11.14 to end third in Monaco a week earlier, was bursting out at the start, as Horn has proven time and again that she is able to “put on the jet-shoes” and spring away from the field from around the 50-metre mark – when she gets those arms flailing and knees lifting high, she motors forward and can make up ground on the opposition.
But she told Independent Media from London that she needs both elements working together to reach her next goal of improving her South African 100m record of 11.06, which she shares with Evette de Klerk, at the Rio Olympics.
Horn’s season’s best came at the African Championships in Durban in June, where she pushed Ivorian Marie-Josee Ta Lou all the way to finish second in 11.07. Ta Lou was the winner again at the London Diamond League with a new personal best of 10.96, as she scored a big victory over Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce as the Jamaican ended third in 11.06.
“I was very, very happy with my performance in Monaco, but not so in London,” Horn told Independent Media. “But I must take what I can out of it to improve in Rio to get the sub-11 second time. The way that I got out of the blocks in Monaco is something that I have been waiting for the whole time.
“So now it’s about getting everything together. I need to be patient and everything will come at the right time.”
Horn is on her way back to South Africa before jetting off to Rio, where she will take part in the 100m heats on the first day of the athletics competition on Friday, August 12, with the final taking place the following evening.
The 27-year-old will hope to make it all the way through, but will probably need to break her national record to do so. She will be joined by South African double sprint champion Alyssa Conley in the 100m in Rio, with Conley and Justine Palframan taking part in the 200m as well.
But Horn said that she is inspired by the exploits of her male counterpart Akani Simbine, who smashed his own SA mark by running 9.89 to win in Hungary last week. “Yes, of course, Akani inspires and motivates me!” Horn said.
@ashfakmohamed - Independent Media