Coal-shovelling champion of the Moura Coal and Country Festival is crowned 👷⛏️🚂👑 | ABC Australia

For Matt Drysdale, shovelling half a tonne of coal in just 38 seconds takes a combination of "speed, strength and muscle memory".

The central Queensland man was crowned state champion for the open singles coal-shovelling competition at the Moura Coal and Country Festival in August 2023.

"It was pretty brutal," Mr Drysdale said. "I've been trying to win for the past four or five years competing … but I finally managed to get to the top step."

Festival organiser Kendall Townsend said the event harks back to an era of mining before mechanisation, where workers faced back-breaking work to physically load the coal.

"They got paid for how many carts they pushed out of the mine," he said.

"These days, obviously, they're using excavators and diggers so it's a bit easier."

Mr Townsend said the fossil fuel had a rich history in the town, as it was home to one of the first coal mines in the state to export in the 1950s.

"It's what the town has always known, coal mining," he said.

Tannum Sands local Lilley Coughlan, 17, competed in the doubles women's event for her age group with 16 year-old Banana teenager Alice Stevens.

Ms Coughlan said there were only two girls in last year's competition, but interest had grown this year with two additional teams.

"We did pretty well and we actually beat them," she said. "The whole mountain of coal has to go into the crate, so it's very hard."

Matt Drysdale said it was promising to see so many young people take part.

"If we keep going the way that we are encouraging the young people, it'll be a growing thing for the coal festival," he said.

Mr Drysdale said the event also servesd as an important social opportunity for the rural town.

"As much as it's nice winning the prize money, it's more about being up there with all my family and mates and getting to see people that I haven't seen in ages," he said.

Mr Drysdale is now eligible for the world coal shovelling championships, which are held in Tasmania.

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