Tara Murray
Max Busuttil has had a successful athletics season despite the season coming to an end early.
The Greenvale resident won two state titles at the Athletics Victoria Victorian Track and Field Championships earlier this month.
Competing in the under-14s in the 200 metres and under-15s in the 100 metres, Busuttil won both events with ease.
The 13-year-old won the under-15 100 metres by a quarter of second.
The following weekend he backed it up in his main event, winning the under-14 200 metres. He has not lost a race in that event in more than two years.
The two gold medals come after he won silver at the Australian All Schools Athletics event in Perth.
Competing in the under-14 200 metres, they held two separate finals with the fastest time taking gold.
Busuttil won his final, but missed out on gold by 0.04 of a second. He said had they raced in the one final, it might have been a different story.
“There were two finals and I was in the second one,” he said.
“It was 8pm at night and we weren’t used to racing at that time.
“The two times displayed on the clock as the same time. His got rounded down.”
He was all set to compete at both the Little Athletics state titles and the Australian track and field championships, but neither event went ahead due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Busuttil said it was disappointing not to have the opportunity to compete at the events.
He said he was really confident that he could have had some more success, especially at the state titles.
“I’ve really improved the last couple of weeks,” he said.
“In the 200 metres I know no one can match my finish. Looking at the results, I thought I could win the 100 metres too.”
Busuttil said he would continue to train with a focus on improving his starts.
He said one aim next season was to be selected as part of Maribyrnong College’s team that goes to the Simplot Games.
