She's going to the Olympics.

The 31-year-old doctoral student and teaching assistant at the University of Utah received word from track and field officials in her native Slovakia over the weekend that she has been selected to run the women's marathon at the Beijing Games in China next month.

"My goal is to do my best so that I never have to look back and think to myself that I could have represented my country any better," she said in an e-mail.

The Salt Lake City resident knows she will not contend for a medal, competing against women who may run nearly 20 minutes faster than her best time. But she's thrilled with the opportunity, having missed out on the 2004 Athens Games in Greece.

Since she had qualified only provisionally for the Athens Games, it was up to the Slovakian Olympic Committee to decide whether to select her to compete. It did not. Similarly, Tomas qualified only provisionally for Beijing with her 2:39:26 finish at the Houston Marathon, and she feared the same thing might happen again.

But the former Top of Utah Marathon champion believes her 2 1/2 -minute improvement at Houston and a strong half-marathon in Minnesota last month helped convince Olympic officials to send her, especially because she's only the second woman in Slovakian history to break 2:40 in the marathon.

Now, she could hardly be happier.

"My running partners, friends, and people from my department have been so excited about this that it has made this whole experience [and] the fulfillment of my dream that much more special," she said.

mcl@sltrib.com