Perseverance pays for Hobart’s Carter

HOBART athlete Lucy Carter’s Devonport Gift victory on Thursday night was reward for perseverance, in more ways than one.

After ‘blowing up’ and falling over the finish line last year, the 20-year-old’s win continued her resurgence since her return from endometriosis a few years ago.

Uniting with legendary coach Ray Quarrell has been vital in her strong form, highlighted by qualifying for the Stawell Gift final in April.

Racing from a 26m handicap, Carter (54.85) held off Abbie Butler (26m, 55.02), and Olivia Roney (30m, 55.76) to vindicate her focus on 400m events after her Stawell breakthrough.

“I was pretty traumatised after last year’s Deveonport 400, blowing up and going out in 25 seconds for the first half of that,” she said.

“I was at 45m last year and this year I was at 26, which shows how much I’ve improved as an athlete mentally and physically.

“We switched our focus after Stawell from 120 to 400 and when the rest of the squad were doing short sprints, I was doing 200 and 400 splits back-to-back, just to get that strength up to be able to finish the race this time with confidence.”

Carter said racing the longer events is a return to her first love after illness hampered her progress. “I came back to Ray, then we started the journey from scratch again,” she said.

“He said I remind him of himself a bit with his younger self and I’m one of the most special athletes he’s ever had. It’s a very special (win).”

Victoria’s Aaron Leferink added to his 2020 Burnie title in the men’s event.

Georgetown cyclist Emily Walker could scarcely believe she had won the women’s wheelrace, holding off highly credentialed Queenslander Kristina Clonan.

The men’s wheelrace was won by WA’s Jack Lightfoot, while the 150m titles were taken out by Queenslander Torrie Lewis and Burnie’s Adam French respectively.