Aviva Damjanovic’s hard fought victory overshadowed by a series of unfortunate events

A Darwin sprinter’s proudest victory quickly turned into a catastrophe as she suffered season ending injuries post race. See the footage and find out what happened.

A triumphant finish to a near perfect athletics season quickly turned into a calamity for Darwin’s best able-bodied sprinter at the weekend.

Aviva Damjanovic sustained serious injuries after winning the John Campbell Miles Memorial 100 Yard dash in Townsville during the North Queensland Championships, taking a brutal fall on the track.

Due to a lack of regular competition in the Territory, the 20-year-old regularly competes in Athletics NQ and other state championships to test herself against quicker opponents.

Often on the wrong end of the stopwatch to these long-time rivals, Damjanovic felt the best she ever had headed into the meet, determined to finally flip the script.

Aviva Damjanovic with the first place trophy after taking out the John Campbell Miles Memorial 100 Yards dash. Picture: Facebook.

“This has been the best season to date for me,” she said.

“I had been injury free which is uncommon for me and I’d been laying down some solid times, even running a few pb’s.

“The ladies I was up against (in the final) included some junior Australian representatives and champions, which I’d been trying to beat for years.

“So I knew that I was in a good spot and this meet was supposed to round out my season.”

Damjanovic said she knew she was in with a chance after a great start off the blocks.

In the zone and feeling good she kept driving her front leg, stuck to form and dipped at the line in a winning time of 10.85 seconds.

Belting out a loud cheer as she crossed the line, Damjanovic soon found herself face down on the track having tripped up attempting to avoid photographers.

“I was so overwhelmed and ecstatic as I crossed the line,” she said.

“Obviously I’ve just exerted a heap of energy and it’s not possible to stop yourself on the spot after a sprint, you need to run down.

Aviva Damjanovic showing off the injuries she suffered after was impeded at the finish line. Picture: Supplied.

“The photographers were crouched down in my lane really close to the finish and by the time I looked up there was nowhere for me to go.

“I tripped myself up trying to stop which resulted in me crashing into the track.

“I slid along the rubber and didn’t realise it at first due to all the adrenaline, but I tore myself up pretty badly.

“I didn’t think I’d be falling over people after winning a race.”

Happy but hurting, the sprinter was left with gravel rash on her palms, thigh, torso, hips and side, and deep bruises across her body.

And it wasn’t only superficial injuries she sustained but muscular too.

“After I received the trophy and the presentations were over I went to get my leg checked out by the physio,” Damjanovic said.

“I still had my two main events left, 100m and 200m, but I was told for my own good that I needed to pull out of the events, and I lodged a (complaint) protest (that’s still pending) of the incident.”

Now back in Darwin, Damjanovic has since seen her physio and been assessed to have a grade one strain in her left hamstring.

Athletics North Qld posted that Aviva was the real victor. Picture: Instagram.

Queensland Athletics chose to snub the Darwin sprinter in their post. Picture: Instagram.

While a better diagnosis than she had anticipated, she will need to spend six weeks out of action in order for it to heal properly.

Adding insult to injury, Damjanovic has since been snubbed by Athletics Queensland on social media.

While ANQ posted the sprinter posing with the trophy atop the podium, AQ chose to omit the NT talent saying: “Winner shown is from a Northern Territory registered club and is recognised with a visitors medal.”

Originally published as Aviva Damjanovic’s hard fought victory overshadowed by a series of unfortunate events