Kavanagh returns from injury with podium finish at KZNA 5km Champs
After spending a couple of months injured, South African road-running starlet Tayla Kavanagh made a strong comeback when she clocked a 16:36 to take second position at the KwaZulu-Natal Athletics (KZNA) 5km/1 Mile Championships which took place at the King's Park Athletics Stadium yesterday (21 July).
Kavanagh led for most of the race until she was outsprinted by the winner Ntsoaki Molahloe with about 100 meters from the finish line. The 23-year-old Hollywood Athletics Club top runner's last race was back at the end of March when she represented the country at World Cross Country Championship in the Serbian Capital, Belgrade - where injury forced her out of the race.
"I'm super excited to be back on the road. Today's race was wonderful as it always nice to race in Durban because of the good weather conditions. Plus it always good to have good races like this. Even the competition was great all round " explains, Kavanagh who is back in KZN under the guidance of coach Andrew Booyens after a stint in Johannesburg at the Zoo Lake Training Group.
"After the World Cross Country Championships, it was tough coming back home having torn my glute which was quite unfortunate. I have done a lot of rehab to strengthen my body. I'm coming back slowly and I'm happy to be training as I'm slowly building towards being at my best again," she explained.
"Injuries do happen in sport. I know most people look at the results and judge from there. They forget that there is a lot of work going on in the background. I know one day it will pay off. It's tough coming from injury. I just need to have confidence to keep going and good performances will definitely come. It has been a really good progress," said the 2021 SA 10km champion.
For Kavanagh who has a 10km personal best time of 32:10, her only wish this year is to defend the national 5km title she won last in Johannesburg last year, even though she admits that it will take a lot of hard work. "I would really love to defend my title even if it would be a hard thing to do. I feel it would a very competitive race with a bunch of good women. I think it would be good to have a competitive 5km as last year it wasn't. I led the race from start to finish. So that wasn't challenging. True champions come from tough races. So I hope this year it will different and I'm looking forward to it."
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