By LIAM TWOMEY
JOSH Ross thrilled a crowd of over 2000 people on Saturday night, storming to victory in the St Albans Gift.
Giving the field a huge head start, Ross flew down the track to win a blanket finish and further cement his name as one of the best sprinters Australia has ever produced.
St Albans Sports Club president Des Barnard said it was a terrific performance.
“I think a lot of people saw the best Australian sprinter they have ever seen in Josh Ross,” he said.
“He won the gift and it was a huge effort. When he starts a gift off scratch he has a two-metre penalty which means everyone else gets an extra two-metre head start. So people who usually run off eight metres run off 10 metres and so on.
“He was giving up a lot of distance. He did the heat reasonably comfortably. The semi-final he really had to stretch. With 20 or 30 metres to go you’d reckon he wasn’t going to make it and he just switched on the afterburners.
“In the final you would have given him no hope and he got there. It was just an enormous effort.”
As well as burning up the track, Ross also put on a clinic for Little Athletics participants before his event started.
“The kids were absolutely rapt with that and we couldn’t be happier,” Barnard said.
“Besides being a top athlete he is a really top person and we were really rapt to have him compete in our gift. He provided something special.”
