On Saturday morning Chris Innes-Wong and his dad were walking among the bookmakers checking the odds for the Stawell Gift. Suffice to say the bookies didn’t fancy his chances. Innes-Wong was 100-1.
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By Saturday afternoon when Innes-Wong crouched on the blocks, he was in to $3 and joined Sam Jamieson as equal favourite for the gift.
But when he had run 12.4 seconds and finished among the fastest times of the day, he had made the bookmakers a little more uncomfortable. Innes-Wong’s dad, Vincent - and anyone else who got on at the early price - may have made a more than prudent investment. They could make a very handsome return on the Adelaide runner.
“It’s funny he [dad] must have [put money on me]. We were looking at the odds and he thought we are not going to be able to put much on because it will bring you down to favourite, and he thought I wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure, but I felt all right,” Innes-Wong said.
The bookmakers’ pessimism about Innes-Wong's chances is understandable, in his first time here last year he was run out easily in the heat. Even his coach, former gift winner Paul Young, took convincing to be bothered working with the late-starting physiotherapist.
“I have only been running seriously for about a year, and I joined Paul Young just before Stawell last year. So I have only had solid training for just over a year. Before that I have never done athletics in my life,” he said.
“Initially I heard Paul Young on radio do an interview on Grandstand ABC and I then emailed him, I searched for his name on the internet and I sent him an email and I said, ‘I think I am reasonably quick, someone at touch rugby told me I was quick,’ and he said, ‘Nah forget it, my squad is full, can’t take anyone on’.”
After that he went to his local club, trained a couple of nights a week and within months had won two key races in Adelaide. Then Young rang him. Innes-Wong joined the 1985 gift winner’s stable and for the past 12 months has trained harder than ever.
“My technique when I went to him was terrible … he is not the most technical coach, but he knows how to get you fit,” the 27-year-old said.
He is confident now that winning is within him.
“Yeah I legit think I can win it … it would be a great story if I can pull it off, put it that way,” he said.
Isaac Dunmall ran the fastest time, winning in 12.32, with the man who came second to him, Luke Versace, running the third quickest time of the day, despite not winning his heat. The second fastest winner was Augustine Carty-Cowling in 12.34.
Five-time paralympic gold medallist Evan O’Hanlon was third in his heat and narrowly missed advancing to the semi-final.
Taking on the men, Australia's fastest woman Melissa Breen led from her mark of 10 metres before being overtaken in the final 30 metres. She finished fourth in 12.94 and only narrowly missed the cut for the semi-finals, as did last year's winner Andrew Robinson.
“If it was a race to maybe the 80-metre line it would have been all right, but a lot changes in the last 20 metres of pro-runs,” Breen said.
“Ten metres is not enough, and it is not as if they are all on scratch either, they are at seven and eight metres.”
Earlier she was also eliminated from the women’s heat, which she won in 2012, punished by the handicapping penalty received for breaking the national record earlier this year.
“I had a good day, I ran quicker in my heat at the women’s than I did to win back in 2012. It’s different now in handicapping. Obviously I appreciate and understand that everyone gets a lift now because of what I have done this year, but I am a bit disappointed not to run on Easter Monday,” she said.
“The women’s is near impossible now for me to win. The field had their handicapping but they got an extra 4.5 metres, so it’s tough. The goal going in was just to break 14 seconds, so to do that and to run faster than I did in 2012 shows that I am in reasonable shape going forward to Japan and then get some more training and bring on Glasgow."
