Johannesburg - Following a successful season, South African sprinter Carina Horn is optimistic she can reach greater heights in 2016.
Horn's big highlight for the season was when she equalled Evette de Klerk's 25-year-old record in the 100 metres.
In Madrid she ran 11.06 in the heats, which was the fastest time run by a South African athlete at sea level and ran 11.10 in the finals an hour later.
At the World Championships in Beijing Horn ran 11.08s in the heats but the wind from behind was too strong for the time to be officially recognised. In the semi-finals she ran 11.15s.
Another good performance was when she ran the 100 metres in a time of 11.19 seconds (-1.2m/s wind) at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial Meeting in Budapest.
“I know that I am capable of running faster times. It is just a matter of putting together the perfect race at the right time,” said Horn.
“My start, which used to be a weakness, has definitely improved this season but it can still be better. The best part of my sprint at the moment is between 20 to 40 metres. I need to work on becoming faster over the first 20 metres. Once at full speed I am able to keep it to the end. Another aspect on which Rainer and I are working is for me to relax during the race. They say a relaxed sprinter is a fast sprinter,” said the Tuks athlete.
But at the moment running fast times are not Horn's major concern. She will be undergoing dental surgery, which is the reason why she will not compete at the African Games in Brazzaville next week.
“I would have liked to have one last go at the stopwatch, but I also have to think long term. I cannot keep on postponing the operation. I have been in constant pain throughout the season, which meant that I had to use more painkillers than I would have liked to. I am responsible for my own health and that is why I decided to get the operation behind me. I will never forgive myself if I do not have it done now and next year, before the Olympics, my problem gets so bad that the operation has to be done then. If I should miss out on next year's Games there is no guarantee that I will be good enough for the next Games in 2020. In athletics four years is a long time in which much can happen.”
African News Agency