By Michael Esposito
DON’T expect a blazing performance from Sam Jamieson at this weekend’s St Albans Gift.
Despite holding the prestigious tag of Stawell Gift winner, Jamieson will not be among the favourites to take out the 120m feature race.
In fact, winning the Stawell Gift has been somewhat of a mixed blessing for the Williamstown resident.
The 24-year-old walked away from running after competing in the SA’s Bay Sheffield in December 2008, nine months after winning the Stawell Gift.
“That was due to some Achilles injuries, then I took some initial time off, then that sort of grew into a very extended break,” Jamieson explained.
“I just sort of walked away from the sport, and I guess the interest wasn’t there. It was an all-or-nothing sport for me at that particular time and the passion wasn’t there for me to put in those long hours for training.”
Since recently returning to the sport after a two-and-a-half year hiatus, he is viewing it from a completely different perspective.
“I’ve just been running more-so just for fun than anything competitive, so it’s always a bit funny going to these gifts and getting introduced as a Stawell Gift winner and not running anywhere near a Stawell gift time,” he said.
“At this stage I’ve decided to come back and not take it as seriously as I did, training-wise or competition-wise, and just sort of enjoy the atmosphere and enjoy running with my group, and the social aspect a bit more.”
Jamieson said he was running about “seven or eight metres slower” than he was in 2008, but has still been given handicaps of 2m-2.5m at recent meets.
He is trying to run with the least amount of stress as possible, deciding not to compete for Williamstown Athletics Club to avoid the pressure of running for official times.
“The plan of my coach for each gift is just getting from A to B, which is a very different plan to what I was used to,” he said.
Jamieson, who will also compete in the Keilor Gift, does not know if he will ever rekindle that ultra-competitive spirit that made him a Stawell Gift champion.
“It’s really up in the air, I know my coach would love me to be 110 per cent committed and putting in those long hours in training.
“He’s always been confident in my ability, but at this stage he’s just happy to have me a few sessions a week.
“Whether that really translates, I couldn’t tell you.”
