Thrilling victory for young athletes
Prestigious finales to Australia’s richest footrace concluded the Stawell Gift carnival’s 140th year of handicap running at the weekend with bare margins the tale of the day.
Gold Coast’s Carla Bull claimed the 120-metre Women’s Gift title, while Melbourne’s Harry Kerr took the men’s crown. Both sprinters travel home with their names in the record books and $40,000 in prize money.
The Women’s Gift was the highlight of Monday’s finals with Bull, 13.774-seconds off 6m, clinching the win in front of Clare de Salis by 0.014sec. De Salis’ race time read 13.788sec. Mia Gross rounded out the podium with a time of 13.800sec.
Bull, 19, a physiotherapy student and first-time Stawell Gift runner, said the race was so close that all she could think was ‘focus on the end’.
“I never thought I had it in the bag. It was a bit scary at the end. Waiting to hear if I had won, thinking yes, no, yes, no,” she said.
“This was the biggest crowd I had ever raced in front of. It was a bit daunting being on television, knowing people from back and home and school were watching.”
The 2022 Stawell Gift was the first time names of the Women’s Gift finalists were displayed on the Central Park scoreboard before the race, as was tradition for the Men’s Gift.
Favourite seals win
Men’s winner Harry Kerr went into Monday’s final as a hot tip to claim glory and ran off 9.25m to finish with a time of 11.845sec, ahead of Hamish Lindstrom, 12.007sec and Jesse Mckenna, 12.164sec.
Kerr’s time was the fastest winning 120m gift time since Glen Crawford, 11.79sec, in 1995.
Kerr, 22, an engineering student from the Melbourne suburb of Park Orchards, said he was happy his preparation had come together — and in his eight Stawell Gift carnival — to win against ‘serious’ talent.
“Stawell was the goal from the start of the season. I am very happy,” he said. “Of course, I was nervous, it was tough competition and they were amazing, too.”
Kerr was injured playing football for Aquinas Old Boys in Melbourne’s amateur leagues last year and spent two months recovering.
“I knew I had time to get back, but I had to do everything right. More training, more time trials, more prepping, eating better and having the right team as well.”
His coach Nick Fieldler said it became apparent, in the weeks leading into the race, that Kerr was a strong chance to win.
“He just kept getting faster and faster at training. He surpassed what I expected him to do, he ran out his skin and I wasn’t expecting that,” Fieldler said.
“I can’t fault a thing he did. He is an absolute joy to coach.”
The inaugural running of Monday’s invitational women’s handicap 1000m also attracted a bumper field of Australia’s elite middle-distance runners for another carnival highlight.
Tokyo Olympian Georgia Griffith won off 7m, ahead of 1500m national champion Abbey Caldwell, also from 7m, and Australian 1500m record holder Linden Hall, scratch.