By LIAM TWOMEY
FORMER Stawell Gift winner Sam Jamieson has his sights set on next month’s Keilor Gift.
After winning the biggest handicap race in Australia five years ago, the Williamstown resident is working his way up to top pace having taken an extended break from the sport.
Following a second-placed finish at the recent Rye Gift, Jamieson said he was feeling good leading into one of the most highly anticipated races of the year.
“I had my two-year sabbatical after winning Stawell in 2008, and it has just been a process of getting back into training from there,” he said.
“This is my third season now, and it has taken me a lot longer to get back into some decent form than what I would have liked.
“Leading into Keilor, I am feeling pretty good and I’m absolutely looking forward to it. Keilor always throws up quick times. You know you are going to get great competition there and you know you are going to have to be in form if you want to do well.”
If previous form at Keilor is anything to go by, Jamieson will be one to watch on the night after he claimed the Skins Event at last year’s Keilor Gift.
While still working to get back to top pace, he said winning Stawell gives him confidence ahead of any event he competes in.
“I think that when I get older and long after my running career is done and dusted it (Stawell) will be something that I look back on very fondly and proudly,” he said.
“It does give you a lot of confidence.
“Having been in that position and won the biggest race, you are never nervous in events that don’t have as big a profile.”
“I just want to come away and feel like I’ve run to my ability at the time and look at the run as another step forward and going in the right direction.
“Whether that run gets me out in the semis or gets me to first place in the final, I’ll be happy either way.”
While his short-term focus is on Keilor, Jamieson is also keen to branch into amateur competition.
“Having done the pros and Stawell, it is a very enjoyable form of athletics,” he said.
“I think there is also still a bit of an aspiration there to see what I can do in the amateurs.
“State Championships and National Championships and things like that this year or if we need one more season to get back into that tip top shape and hopefully have a season without injuries.
“That is something else I’m looking at as well.”
