DUO’S DAY TO SAVOUR
THEY were among the pre-race favourites for the Coolangatta Gold crowns and yesterday Georgia Miller and Ali Day made their mark at Australia’s toughest surf sports race.
While Surfers Paradise member Day claimed his sixth title in as many starts to seal a place in the record books, Northcliffe newcomer Miller vanquished her 2017 demons with a breakthrough win in the women’s event.
EVERY demon that visited Georgia Miller in the aftermath of her Coolangatta Gold disaster last year was in her head again.
About halfway through the final 7.1km run, Miller had what she described as a “panic attack” and was about to pull out of the race before pushing through to claim “definitely the biggest win of my career”.
“I’m so lucky that one of my handlers was there to calm me down because I was close to pulling out,” the 22-year-old said.
“My breathing got all funny and I started to tear up and I thought that was going to be it for me. But he got me to calm down and keep pushing through.”
Miller eventually crossed the line in 4hr 29min 22sec, beating Northcliffe clubmate Danielle McKenzie by just under 10 minutes, with Noosa’s Lana Rogers third.
She staggered across the line and was eventually carried to the medical tent by boyfriend, Australian kayaker Riley Fitzsimmons, where she received attention for about half an hour.
Her victory may have come at a cost but Miller knows that the mental barriers she broke through to become just the sixth woman to notch her name on the Gold trophy will be invaluable.
“I literally felt like I had strings attached to my arms and I was just pulling my legs up. My eyes were going funny, I was getting shivers, it was exactly what happened last year.
“I just was praying that it wouldn’t get to that stage where I couldn’t go on.”
Miller finished fourth in the Gold last year, blowing up in
the run after racing neck-andneck with eventual winner Courtney Hancock until the final leg, where she was passed by two other athletes, missing a podium placing.
She knew that if she stopped this year, she would be emotionally crushed.
“I would have been absolutely devastated and I don’t know how I would have gone on the rest of the season, I would have really struggled,” she said. “(The win) is going to be huge for my confidence.”
Miller becomes the sixth woman to win the Gold title after Hayley Bateup, Alicia Marriott, Brodie Moir, Liz Pluimers and Hancock.
“I look up to all of those girls, so to be next to them is such an honour and I will remember this day (forever)”.