UNIVERSITY student Alexia Loizou fended off her best friend and training partner to win Australia's richest footrace for women on Easter Monday.
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Loizou, running off 5.75 metres, powered off the blocks in a fast-finishing Stawell Women's Gift final at Central Park with stablemate and race favourite Sophia Fighera (5m) a close runner-up behind her.
"I think this whole weekend was much more serious for us," Loizou said. "Everyone usually knows us as little twins chatting before a race...We just know each other so well and when to give each other space."
Loizou clocked a time of 13.58 seconds to claim the $40,000 winners' cheque from the Victorian Athletic League meet.
Loizou is trained by sprinter Matt Carter, who also coached Matt Rizzo to his 2017 Stawell GIft victory.
Meanwhile, Ballarat's Holly Dobbyn bowed out in semi-final one earlier in the Monday program.
Dobbyn is the 2014 Stawell Women's GIft champion - a year before the purse was boosted to parity with the headline event.