TT Train runs Olympic Qualifier
04 Jun 2012
Tasmania will be represented in athletics at this years London Olympics, after Tristan Thomas ran his first Olympic qualifier in the 400m hurdles.
The 26 year old clocked 49.39seconds to place second at a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.
“Other than being extremely sunburnt I can honestly say this was the first time I’ve smiled like a kid at an athletics track in three years,” Thomas said.
While Thomas still has to wait for an official announcement from the Australian Olympic Committee, it was his fastest time since 2009 and he now joins Canberra’s Brendan Cole as the two men who will represent Australia in the 400m hurdles in London.
It has been a long time coming for Thomas, who has battled multiple injuries since 2009, when he was the standout athlete on the Australian domestic scene. He culminated 2009 with a world championships bronze, as part of the Australian 4 x 400m relay team.
Since returning from Japan and South Korea last month, Thomas has been in a nervous place recently, unsure of whether he had done enough to qualify for London or not.
He was a starter in both of Australia’s 4 x 400m relay teams that qualified for London, however the team won’t be announced until June 11. However after earning an individual birth overnight in the 400m hurdles, his selection is now almost a certainty.
“I didn’t know I’d run the time because I wasn’t sure how far behind the winner I was and he had crossed in 49.24. When I found out later though you would have seen me jumping up and down like a teenage girl meeting One Direction,” Thomas said after need to break 49.50 to better the standard.
Competing in only the flat 400m across the 2011 Australian Athletics Tour, Thomas returned to the hurdles at the Sydney Track Classic (51.26) before crossing second in 50.23, his fastest time in Australia this year, at the Qantas Melbourne Track Classic & Olympic Trials.
Thomas continued: ‘The road back from injury has been tough. The physical side is one thing, and I can sincerely say my physiotherapist Craig Purdam has magic hands, but it's the mental side that has been tougher. In your head you think you should still be where you always were but the confidence takes time.
“As for London this means like I belong again. My loved ones can sleep a bit easier and my coach Craig Hilliard can get some joy after a pretty tough year with his own cancer scare.
“I’ve got a few more races next month, and some pretty serious training coming up. I still want nothing more than to run 48 again and mix it with the best, and that chance could come in an Australian uniform and in my view that’s the best possible way to spend August in any year let alone an Olympic one.
Thomas has a personal best of 48.68 and has taken out the national title three times including in Melbourne (Vic) this past April. In 2009, he was crowned Universiade champion in Belgrade, Serbia and broke Simon Hollingsworth’s longstanding state record in both the 400m flat and 400m hurdles.
Just last week, Thomas was named the 2011/2012 Tasmanian male athlete of the year.
With thanks to the Hobart Mercury.
