ARARAT athlete Sarah Blizzard is amid a revolution in women’s sprinting and it makes her hungrier to taste victory at Stawell.
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Blizzard is vying to make her fourth consecutive Stawell Women’s Gift 120-metre final, an impressive feat in itself, but made harder with the increasingly tougher pool of rivals.
This Easter marks the third Gift where prizemoney for the women’s feature event is on parity with the title race which, while open to women, is yet to feature a female contender past the heats.
“It definitely has made a big difference, not only to the number of females entering the Women’s Gift, but the quality as well,” Blizzard said.
"It means a lot to female sprinters and athletes. We train just as hard as the men.”
Blizzard is based in Canberra with Olympian Matthew Beckenham’s prominent Matty B stable. Her training partner is Australia’s fastest female Mel Breen, who was a key driver to create parity at Central Park.
Proudly, Blizzard said her dad Neil Blizzard, now Stawell Athletic Club president, helped also play a major role in the push for equality and to reinforce validity to women’s sprinting.
Stawell has pulled the limit for the Women’s Gift handicap back to 11 metres. This is good for elite backmarkers, like Breen, in hunting down rivals.
But it also makes for a faster, tighter field and aims to create more exciting racing.
Blizzard said this was great promotion for the marquee women’s race.
A women’s 70m event has also been added to the Stawell program this Easter, offering in-form female sprinters another option for a hit-out either to sharpen their Gift campaign or to contest should they bow out.
“This year is going to be good,” Blizzard said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
Ararat is home for Blizzard but she still counted Stawell as a home Gift.
Blizzard will stay in her hometown and drive up each day, like she always has done, because to her the Gift and the people make Central Park feel like it is her turf.
“It kinda is a hometown event,” Blizzard said. “To win in front of so many family and friends would be amazing. Stawell is just huge. I just hope I’m fourth-time lucky.”
