South Africa’s top female sprinter, Carina Horn (Tuks), considered reaching a semi-final at a World Championships or the Olympic Games as a significant achievement, but not anymore. 

Now she sees it as having failed as she knows she is capable of doing better. Therefore on Friday when she settles down in her starting blocks to race the 60 metres sprint at the IAAF Indoor World Championships in Birmingham, her goal will be to run the final. No other outcome will make her happy.

Horn considers racing the final as a realistic goal. In France three weeks ago she proved she is in good shape when twice in just three days she managed to set a new South African indoor record.  Horn first ran 7.10s and then 7.09s improving on Wendy Hartman’s record of 7.15s which stood since 1999. These two performances were just what she needed to boost her confidence.

“It has always been my goal to compete in a major final, but the statistics were sort of against me. Times of 11.15s in the 100 metres or 7.19s over 60 metres will never be good enough to qualify for the final. Now is the first time that according to the statistics I have a realistic chance to go through to the final eight,” said the Tuks sprinter.

Horn’s best time of 7.09s places her joint 8th on the IAAF indoor-rankings. 

According to Horn after last year’s World Championships in London where she again only got to race the 100-metre semi-final, she was genuinely despondent. 

“I think I had already lost going to London because I did not want to race. In the end, I only ran because my coach, Rainer Schopf, convinced me not to forsake my dreams. But my heart was not into it. The mistake I made last year was allowing my personal problems to get onto the track with me. That is a sure way to lose focus.

“To lose out in the semi-final is not beneficial to one’s confidence. I got to stage where I started to wonder whether I will ever really make it as an international sprinter especially if every year you put in the hard work but the results remain the same. 

“So after my semi-final in London Rayner and I had an honest heart to heart talk in the pavilion for three hours. It was long overdue as it made us realise that he as a coach and I as an athlete cannot quit on the goals we had set ourselves.”

As to her South African record breaking performance in France, the Tuks sprinter said that they worked hard on improving her speed over the first 20 metres as that was where she always lost out in races. 

Depending on what happens in Birmingham Horn is contemplating on competing on 8 March at the Grand Prix-meeting at Tuks. She definitely will compete at the South African Senior Championships, and she makes no secret what her goal is going to be. Horn wants to set a new South African record in the 100 metres, meaning a time faster than 11.06s. Depending on how she feels she might already go for it in the semi-final. 

“I know now that am capable of dipping under 11 seconds.”