Carina Horn (Tuks/hpc) improved her season's best time earlier this week when she won the 100 metres in 11,18 s at the Liese Prokop Memorial in St Pölten, Austria.

The South African had to dig deep for her victory as Ewa Swoboda (Poland) matched her, stride for stride, right up to the finish. After they had finished, both athletes were credited with a time of 11,18 s, but the 18-year-old Polish athlete's name was the first to flash on the electronic timing. However, a few seconds later Horn was officially declared the winner, probably because she also won her heat in 11,18 s while Swoboda won hers in 11,32 s. Maja Mihalince (Slovenia) placed third, running in 11,51 s.

It was the first time this season that Horn ran a time of less than 11,2 s. At the first ASA Night Series meeting at Pilditch she won in 11,23 s.

Horn, who is known for setting high standards for herself, was 'sort of' satisfied. 'I did not have the best of starts. My reaction time was fine but unfortunately I made a few technical mistakes getting out of the blocks. The positive I can take from last night's race is my consistency. I was able to run 11,18 s twice within 90 minutes. I am getting closer to the goals I set for myself. It is just a matter of being patient. I know I am capable of running the perfect race, I just don't know when it will happen.'

Horn's dedication to becoming South Africa's fastest woman might be best summed up in the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger: 'The worst thing I can be is the same as everybody else. I hate that.' According to Horn, who is a great fan of Schwarzenegger, she does not want to be remembered as just another talented South African sprinter if there is a possibility that she might be remembered as South Africa's best sprinter.