Taylor Kavanagh to miss Spar Tshwane 10km due to Commonwealth Games

The Tshwane race takes place on 1 August at SuperSport Park in Centurion, but Kavanagh will be in Glasgow representing Team South Africa at her first Commonwealth Games, where she will compete in the women’s 5000m final.

Despite leading the Spar Women’s Grand Prix standings after victories in Cape Town and Durban, Kavanagh has chosen national duty over the chance to strengthen her bid for the overall title and the R219 000 winner’s prize. 

"So, yeah. Unfortunately, I will be missing a few road races, not just in Durban, but a few road races I will be missing just because I will be in the Commonwealth for about two weeks, so I won't be doing SPAR. I think the SPAR series - I was obviously not going to do the whole series simply because I had a few other commitments, so I am not quite sure how many other SPAR races I will be doing," said Kavanagh.

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"But, ja, I might even miss the Total Sports race in Durban as well. So there are a lot of things that I might be missing, but at the same time, as an athlete, you can't do everything. Sometimes it's disappointing, especially when you've run well in races the previous year; you obviously want to go back to that race and see if you can do better."

The former national 5km champion admits missing races could hurt her chances of winning the Grand Prix title, but says her main focus is on running faster times and continuing to improve rather than chasing prize money.

She believes long-term progress as an athlete is more important than one successful season. 

The 25-year-old, who coaches herself, says qualifying for the Commonwealth Games has given her confidence to aim even higher.

She now believes she can qualify for next year's World Athletics Championships in China and ultimately earn a place at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

The Hollywood Athletics Club star, who won both the national, provincial, and African track titles this year, says South African distance runners are gradually closing the gap on the dominant East African athletes.

Kavanagh believes continued hard work and regular international competition will help local runners become even more competitive in the years ahead.