Kavanagh focused on Commonwealth Games despite 10km form

By Charles Baloyi
28th June 2026

Taylor Kavanagh says her main goal this season is success at the Commonwealth Games, despite making a perfect start to the Spar Women's 10km Grand Prix series.

After claiming her second straight victory at Kingsmead Stadium in Durban on Sunday, Kavanagh told SABC Sport that winning the overall Grand Prix title is not her priority.

Instead, the 25-year-old is fully focused on making an impact in her Commonwealth Games debut in Glasgow from 23 July to 2 August, where she will compete in the women's 5000m final.

Although she now leads the Grand Prix standings with two wins and three races remaining in the chase for the R210 000 overall prize, Kavanagh says her attention remains firmly on the international stage.

She also clocked a personal best of 31:32 to beat Ethiopia's Selam Gebre (31:45), while Lesotho's Neheng Khatala finished third in 32:09.

With three-time series champion Glenrose Xaba competing in Europe, Kavanagh found a strong rival in Ethiopia's Selam Gebre.

The pair raced stride for stride for most of the event before Kavanagh produced a decisive kick over the final 500 metres to secure another impressive victory.

"Today I had a really good run out there. I had really strong competition from Selam Gebre out there so I'm really happy with my race. We challenged one another a lot and kept one another going. I'm really happy with the consistency I've been able to produce over the last couple of 10km races."

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After surprising Glenrose Xaba by one second in Cape Town, Kavanagh admitted there was added pressure this time around as Gebre stayed with her throughout most of the race.

The Hollywood Athletics Club runner said sticking to her race plan was the key to victory.

Kavanagh credited her preparation and training in Durban for helping her execute in the race exactly as planned.

"Throughout the race I was really just trying to focus on how I was feeling, I wasn't too worried about the pace I was running, all I really wanted to do was run within myself and see how the body reacts. I tried to run off effort rather than pace."