Thomas motivated by Commonwealth success

Tevaughn Thomas, Jamaica's bronze medal para-athlete at the just-concluded Commonwealth Games in Australia's Gold Coast, described his preparation for the Games as a challenging one, but is motivated to keep pushing for success.

Thomas finished third in the men's T47 100m final in para-athletics, crossing the line in 11.63 seconds, behind gold medal winner, Nigeria's Suwaibidu Galadima, 11.04 seconds and England's James Arnott, who clocked 11.30 for second place.

The Jamaican noted that he was happy to see his efforts paying off, and was elated that he was able to do his family and country proud at the Games, where Jamaica won a record 27 medals (7 gold, 9 silver, 11 bronze).

"It was very tough to prepare myself, because I got injured earlier in the season. I hurt my ankle in training and it kept me out for about three weeks," shared Thomas. "It really threw me off a lot and I had to be in the gym preparing the muscle and all that. But I just put my trust in God, put in the hard work and the hard work paid off."

The 19 year-old said he was always confident of putting in a strong performance and is using the experience as a motivation to push his career further.

"It's a tremendous performance. I did get challenged, as it was a strong, competitive field. But I went out confident and delivered and I want to thank everyone, who supported me along the way and just encourage them to continue to support and believe in me. I trusted in God and went out and delivered and made myself, my country, my family and my coach proud," Thomas said.Interestingly, Thomas, who attends St Mary Technical High school, actually had to train for the Games at rival school, St Mary High, because of his conviction that they have a better track and field programme.

"I live in Highgate and attend St Mary Technical, but I trained with St Mary High," he told The Gleaner. "My stepfather knows the coach at St Mary High and it's a better programme there, so I made the transition and go to St Mary High to train, that is how dedicated I am," Thomas stated.