There are several people with Rochester connections competing in the Summer Olympics going on now in Paris.
They include Lanae-Tava Thomas, a sprinter who is competing for the Jamaican team. Thomas grew up in that country, and later competed at Rush-Henrietta before going on to university teams in California and Texas. She still has a number of relatives in Jamaica and visits there often.
Thomas, whose specialty is the 200-meter event, told WXXI News this week she always had her sights set on making the Olympics one day.
“Yeah, for sure, I’ve said it since I was little, but I’ve never not thought it was going to happen,” said Thomas. Even when I was younger, I was like, yeah, I’m gonna go to the Olympics, I always knew it was going to happen, I’ve never said it with just the intention of saying it, I’ve always (had ) the intention of making it possible.”
Thomas’s father, Lance Thomas, who is the Chief Financial Officer at WXXI, said the family’s relatives in Jamaica, are thrilled with Lanae-Tava’s success.
“Oh, they’re super excited,” said Lance Thomas. “They were there at the trials when we went down there, and they’ve been cheering her on for a long time, so they too are so super excited about all that is happening with her.”
Thomas said that even when his daughter was younger, he always thought Lanae would be competing in the Olympics one day.
“Always in the back of my mind, you know, that’s the ultimate for every track athlete, that this is where you get,” said Lance Thomas. “And what makes it more real is that this was not only our dream for her, but it was her personal dream to be here.”
A mentor and coach for Lanae-Tava Thomas when she lived in the Rochester area is track coach Aubrey Sheffield, who now coaches in Penfield.
He said he saw the talent and the confidence that Thomas had from her early days of running competitively.
“It was definitely her ability and the confidence, a combination of all of that,” said Sheffield. “She’s, just to me, the perfect athlete and she just has the right mentality to make things happen and get to this point.
Lance Thomas said that he and his wife will have an early start to the day on Sunday, Aug. 4 when his daughter runs in the initial heats in the 200-meter event. They’ll be watching from their home in Rochester, starting at 4:55 a.m.
Thomas credits Lanae’s coaches in the Rochester area “who have led her to this journey, brought her this far,” and to those mentors, Thomas added, “Thank you, thank you, the dreams have been realized and there’s more to come.”
