Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 123, October 2019 | Page 56

Dominique also recorded the fastest
5000m on the track in 15 years by
a South African, but just missed out
on the Olympic qualifying mark by
1.1 seconds. The mark needed was
15:24.00. She ran 15:25.10 on 1 April,
but that disappointment was soon
erased one month later when she earned
her Olympic spot in the 10,000m, clocking
31:56.84.
Breakthrough in 2016
Dominique studied at Arkansas for five years and
in that time earned the Razorbacks a whole host
of titles, the biggest and best arguably being her
5000m/10 000m NCAA double in 2016. That year was
clearly a turning point in her career, because it also
brought her a Rio Olympics qualifier in the 10,000m.
This made Dominique the first South African woman
to qualify for the 25 lapper in 16 years – the last time
a South African had competed in this event at the
Olympics was 2000 in Sydney, when Elana Meyer
lined up.
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Unsurprisingly, Dom says Rio was a special
experience. “Walking onto the track in Rio for
that 10,000m was a surreal experience. Leading
up to the race I was a bundle of nerves. I knew this
was going to be one of the hardest races I had ever
run. But some time during the day before the race, I
realised I had earned my right to be on that start line,
and that relaxed me. I had made so many choices and
tough decisions to get to this point, and I owed it to
myself that I enjoyed it... as much as you can enjoy a
blistering 25-lap circuit. I remember walking onto the
blue track with the biggest smile on my face. Also,
Cameron and both our families were in the stands,
and that was a very, very special feeling.”
Turning Pro
After graduating, Dominique turned professional
and signed a sponsorship deal with adidas. That
also entailed a move to Boulder, Colorado, which
is also home to South African marathon record
holder, Colleen de Reuck. In Boulder, Dominique
trains with America’s Emma Coburn, who stunned
ISSUE 124 OCTOBER 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
the world by winning the 3000m steeplechase World
Champs title in 2017. Now Dominique can regularly
be found burning up the track with Emma, and the
improvement in her own running is clearly visible.
In 2017 she crushed 12 new personal bests in all
distances from the 1500m, mile, 3000m and 5000m
on track and 5km, 10km, 15km and 7 miles on the
road. In the process she also set two national indoor
records in the 1500m and 3000m.
She also started to compete regularly at the highest
level in world athletics, the Diamond League meets,
and should have been at the 2017 World Athletics
Championships, had it not been for for what many
deemed a flawed selection policy from the national
federation, Athletics South Africa. That was a bitter
pill for Dominique to swallow, but she says she has
learned from the experience, and now says that
whatever criteria ASA sets, she will aim to surpass it
tenfold (as she did with her qualification for the 2019
World Championships).
In 2018, more success was to follow. Six new
personal bests, breaking her own 1500m and 3000m
indoor SA Records, and a 15:04.14 for 5000m.
Amongst SA women, only Elana Meyer and Zola
Budd-Pieterse have gone faster, and Zola did so while
running for Great Britain, so that puts Dom second
on the all-time SA list. However, the best was yet
to come, and it meant that under no circumstances
could the national federation leave her at home for
the 2019 World Athletics Championships. On 21 July
Scott-Efurd
TRACK & FIELD