Horn blazes to new SA 100m mark

IT took three years of grinding and fighting for Carina Horn to finally find her breakthrough to become the sole owner of the South African women’s 100m record.

The first day of the South African Track and Field Championships was dominated by non-medal events, in particular the sprints.

Horn blasted out of the blocks in her semi-final to cross the line in a time of 11.03 seconds to knock three-hundredths of a second off the 28-year-old record first set by Evette de Klerk back in 1990.

She equalled the 25-year-old national record of 11.06 seconds held by De Klerk in 2015 and had to endure three years of frustration in her bid to make the SA mark her own.

“It is a great feeling, I am really excited, I’ve been waiting for a few years to race on my home track and I am glad I could do it here,” Horn said. This year is turning out to be a dream season for Horn, who broke the national 60m record twice in three days in February.

She shaved 0.05 off Wendy Hartman’s previous national indoor record at the Val d’Oise Meeting Eaubonne before improving that mark with a time of 7.09 in France.

For Horn this is merely a stepping stone towards her goal of becoming the first South African female to dip below 11 seconds.

“If the weather is fine, hopefully, I can get to sub-11 because that is my goal,” Horn said.

The 100m final is tomorrow night.

Earlier, teenage sensation Thando Dlodlo, a matriculant at Monument High, raced to a new SA junior 100m record with a time of 10.11 seconds in his semi-final.

The 100m semi-finals, however, belonged to stalwart sprinter Roscoe Engel, who posted a new personal best of 10.06. Akani Simbine pulled out of the semis after he felt some tightness in his hamstring.