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A graduate student at the University of Utah is competing in the Beijing Olympics and is sharing her experiences by blogging.
Zuzana Tomas is working on her doctorate at the U, but right now she's in Beijing preparing to run the marathon for her native country, Slovakia. She's staying in touch through an Internet blog.
Tomas says, "I kind of feel like it keeps me connected with people back home, all my friends and my family."
No matter what she places in the race, she's already come in first for her country. She says, "I'm the only marathoner in the history of Slovakia to compete in the Olympic Games, so it makes it that more special."
By keeping a blog of her experience, her fans know what she's been up to. She says she usually just describes her day and posts pictures from that day.
In 2000, Tomas came to America from Slovakia to study then moved to Utah. She says, "With the Olympics in Salt Lake City and the [linguistics] program strong, I thought that would be the best place or me."
Tomas studies and teaches linguistics at the University of Utah and says her specialization is on teacher training. "So," she says, "I'm a teacher educator for teachers who would like to teach language."
When she's not at the University of Utah, she's probably running. She qualified for the Summer Games by running a marathon in two hours, 39 minutes and is one of about 60 athletes in Beijing representing Slovakia.
The university's public relations department asked her to write about her Olympic experiences. She first thought it would be just something else to worry about but says, "It actually turned out to be one of the best things about my experience here."
Tomas uses a computer lab in the Olympic Village, which is available for any athlete to use. She says it has become a journal of sorts, something to reflect on her experiences.
Tomas will run in a couple of days. She's a little concerned about the heat and humidity and hopes the marathon course is flat. But something that helps calm her nerves is all the support she's getting online.
She says, "I love looking forward to looking at all the comments from my friends and family. It's just been great."
Tomas would love your support on her blog where you can also check out all her photos. Just log on to runzuzanarun.blogspot.com.
E-mail: abutterfield@ksl.com
