Craving Crowns | Rose Davies Eyes Hat-trick at Zatopek:10

Newcastle’s Rose Davies has only lost once at the prestigious Zatopek:10 meet since emerging on the scene in 2018. The 22-year-old Olympian is set to chase glory in a bid to complete a hat-trick of national 10,000m titles on Thursday night – a feat that would etch her name in rare company.

The back-to-back 10,000m champion and fourth fastest Australian in history has been a dominant force at Zatopek since her first win in the Under 20 Ondieki 3000m in 2018, with the only imperfection on her record coming in the form of bronze in the 10,000m as a 19-year-old in 2019 – far from a blunder.

“I am super excited and hopefully I can pull it off, but I haven’t really thought about what winning three in a row would mean to me yet. I will have to see if I can do it first and then go from there, but I can’t wait,” Davies said.

“I do like the 10k, I enjoy it. It’s a lot different to the 5k but I don’t mind it, hopefully I can get the win but I just want to run the best race that I can.”

A win from Davies would see her become only the third woman in history to make it three in a row at Zatopek after Natalie Harvey (1996-1998) and Joan Logan (1977-79), and the fourth Australian woman to win three national titles at the renowned meet (Eloise Wellings, Natalie Harvey, Joan Logan).

25 laps of the track is a daunting prospect for most but for Davies it is an opportunity to reap the rewards of 150km training weeks year after year under the guidance of Scott Westcott, with the Novocastrian acutely aware of the quality that lies within the field ahead of tomorrow night - keeping her cards close to her chest.

“I don’t look at the lap counter until it’s in single digits, that’s my number one rule. I kind of just switch off and look at people’s bibs or other random things to get my mind through. I actually don’t find it too bad, the race always goes pretty quickly,” Davies said.

“I’m sure Izzi [Batt-Doyle] is really fit based off her Melbourne Marathon. Leanne [Pompeani] ran a great 10k in Burnie, then there’s people like Lauren [Ryan] and Caitlin [Adams], Nat [Rule] and Mazz [Amelia Mazza-Downie] – it’s going to be a great race.”

Davies’ personal best of 31:18.54 is over 20 seconds faster than that of her nearest competitor on paper, Izzi Batt-Doyle, but her two national titles have been won with near identical moves of authority around the home bend of the final lap. Competing at the Olympic Games, World Championships, and Commonwealth Games in the last 18 months – the 22-year-old has developed a lethal mix of class and experience.

“It has been a massive year; I had a bit of a mental break when I came home but training has been going well and hopefully that shows on Thursday. The last two years have been a massive learning experience for me, overseas racing is so different to Australia so I have learned a lot,” Davies said.

“I think I get more ambitious after each one. I haven’t been too happy with my results at majors so I definitely want to achieve more next year.”

Despite her loyalty to Newcastle, Davies has applied the finishing touches to her preparation in Bendigo to focus purely on her title tilt and eliminate external factors – a small sacrifice for a big dream as she begins to realise her potential.

“There are no distractions in Bendigo so it’s good for training and the running is really good here, there are so many hills and places to run – I actually really like it,” Davies said.

“Andy [Buchanan] is coached by Scotty [Westcott] too. I just like coming to Bendigo to get away from Newcastle and really lock in for a few weeks. Falls Creek isn’t on the cards this year, so I guess this is the next best thing.”

The Australian 10,000m championships at Zatopek:10 will form the foundation of another big year for Davies in 2023, eager to don the green and gold at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Bathurst and World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

“I haven’t really thought about the qualifiers and the times yet, but I guess once we get past the World Cross Country we will refocus on everything else for next year,” Davies said.

Zatopek:10 will begin at 6pm at Lakeside Stadium on Thursday December 15, with tickets and more information available HERE.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 14/12/2022