Olivia Attard returned from the Stawell Gift over the Easter weekend with yet another title to her name, successfully defending the 1600m frontmarkers sash she won in 2024 with a dominant display at the Victorian Athletic League’s marquee meet.

With the likes of Gout Gout, Lachlan Kennedy and Bree Masters competing in the blue ribbon 120m gift, sold-out crowds descended upon the western Victorian town from April 19 to 21, and Attard excelled in front of them to not only win her final, but completely obliterate the field.

Coach Kelvin Lubeck had tipped Attard as the most likely out of his Seymour-based Kelfit stable to claim a sash at Stawell given her recent form, but even he could scarcely believe the manner in which she won.

“The handicapper took her (Attard) back 35m and she still won by, I would say 100m, and she ran it under four minutes, which was just amazing,” Lubeck said.

“I can’t remember the exact handicap, but for example say she was off 200m last year, this year she was off 165m, so she’s been pulled back 35m, and she ran three seconds faster this year than she did last year, and she ran another 35m further than she had to run last year.

“Very rarely do you win back-to-back because of the handicap system. They don’t want you to win again, so to speak. It’s pretty impressive.”

While the handicap wasn’t quite 165m — Attard actually ran off a mark of 285m, down from the 320m she won it off last year — she put in a phenomenal run nonetheless.

Proving tactically astute, Attard followed eventual third-place finisher Charlie Sutherland as they bridged the gap to the athletes ahead, passing those in second and third, letting him lead and do all the work to catch leader Stefan Catalano.

The catch was made as the now lead trio took the bell to start the final lap, at which point Attard unleashed the decisive move, dropping both of her opponents for good with 300m to go and never looking back.

Stopping the clock at a ludicrous 3:59.78, Attard was virtually the only athlete on the home straight as she crossed the line, 6.98 seconds ahead of second place — an age in athletics.

Attard’s brilliant title defence was the highlight of the Kelfit Stawell campaign, but there were a number of great runs from other athletes, with plenty of representation in finals.

“Tyson Barton was the other podium finish we had in a final, he came second,” Lubeck said.

“That was the restricted 1600m. Restricted means they have never won a race anywhere, be it a 70m or 3200m, so it’s very tough to win a restricted.

“It’s like in the horses, sometimes the toughest race to win is the maiden, so he was good.

“Virtually everyone ran their personal best. Julian Morgan made the final of the 800m, Lucy Zotti made the final of the 800m and finished fifth, she also made the final of the 400m, and Liv Barry made the semi-final of the 70m and 120m in the women’s.”

Lucy Potter also made the final of her under-18 800m final, while Poppy Robinson and Mia Brown were competitive in their Little Aths events and Ian Porter and Blair Collins ran well in their series races, placing eighth and 10th respectively.

Stawell marks the end of a massive VAL season for the Kelfit crew, which has seen squad numbers and support swell, with a large contingent making the trek to Central Park at Easter to cheer on the Seymour group, something which is not lost on Lubeck.

“For me, I’m speechless and emotional to see the support,” he said.

“We went out for dinner on the Saturday night and I think we had 50 people there. Like, wow. Three years ago we had three people (at Stawell). It’s just next level.”

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Friday, 11th July 2025

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