In 1993, after a string of victories on the South African circuit, Tina stunned athletics observers by running 1:56.62 in a race won by cousin Mutola in 1:56.56.

From 1995, Tina benefited from the ‘Atlanta ‘96’ IOC Solidarity Programme, an initiative designed to boost the Olympic preparations of carefully selected athletes from developing nations.

Tina and eleven other athletes, including Tommy Asinga, Sipho Dlamini, Ngozi Mwanamwambwa and Marie Womplou, trained under the guidance of coach Ron Davis while attending LaGrange College at LaGrange, seventy miles southwest of Atlanta, where they enjoyed state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, including a new $400 000 track.

Here, Dieudonne Kwizera and Abdi Bile coached her to eventual silver at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.

However, the Savannah International Training Centre closed its doors in late 1999, amidst claims that the IOC had failed to meet its obligations to provide enough athletes to keep the facilities open.

The Brazilian coached the 800 m stars Joaquim Cruz and Jose Luis Barbosa, as well as Osmar dos Santos and Hudson de Souza.

In 2004, however, her regular appearances as a pacemaker meant that she had few occasions to attempt to meet the strict Olympic qualifying standards.