Thomas: I'll do it for my father

André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

Olympic relay gold medallist and national record holder in the 110m hurdles, Dwight Thomas says that he has even more motivation and inspiration going into next week's IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Daegu, South Korea, this after burying his father, Aston yesterday.

The funeral service for Aston, who was brutally murdered on July 17 in Glengoffe, St Catherine, was held yesterday at the Bethel Baptist Church in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew, and the Daegu medal hopeful, is hoping to put this misery behind him and refocus on the upcoming championships.

"I am ready, I am definitely ready, I am more determined to go out there and do well, that is what my father would have wanted," Thomas said. "Hopefully, I can now focus on the championships, which is just about two weeks away. I feel like I am ready and if there is any revenge to be taken, I'll take it out there in that kind of way so that it reflects well on the family and the country.

"I'm strong emotionally but honestly it has been difficult to deal with though, especially when it just happened, and it damaged some part of me emotionally," Thomas admitted. "However, I am strong-willed and I have managed to go on, work hard and get through up to this point."

Thomas, who has been granted an extra three days to meet up with the pre-championships camp in Daegu, South Korea, last saw his father in June during the JAAA/Supreme Ventures National Senior Champion-ships at the National Stadium.

"I didn't grow up with him but we were very close whether he was here in Jamaica or in the States," Thomas said.

"I was hoping to get some degree of closure before the championships and I believe I have got some of that. The person or persons who committed this crime are still walking up and down freely and so that part of it is left to be settled but at least I know that my father got a good send-off and that he has gone to a better place," he added.

Long-time friend and current manager, former 400m hurdler Ian Weakly, was also present in support of Thomas, and is hopeful that the former Calabar High man will be able to bounce back in time.

Motivation

"We were together on the circuit when he got the news about his father's death and I have been hanging out with him and ensuring that he gets certain things on the circuit like his own room and space to help him with the whole process," said Weakly, a 2002 Commonwealth Games silver medallist.

"I think he has been dealing with it the way he thinks his father would want him to by just putting in the work. Mentally, I think he is determined to use this experience as a motivation going forward, but sometimes this sort of thing saps your energy without you even knowing," Weakly added.

Quarter-miler Sanjay Ayre, another long-time friend of Thomas, was also among the mourners.

"The last time I was here during the trials I spoke to him (Aston) and he was encouraging me. In addition, 'Bigga' (Thomas) and I have been friends forever since Calabar days so I had to be here, I flew in from Europe just to support Bigga, who is like my brother from another mother," said Ayre.