The coach of Stawell Gift women's final winner Talia Martin has rejected any suggestion either of them have done anything wrong, after the 15-year-old's dramatic improvement in form.

Martin took out Australia's richest foot race on Monday winning $40,000, but was later fined $2,000 for "inconsistent racing".

Stewards imposed the penalty because she improved 7 metres from a race in the Victorian town of Ararat 12 days earlier.

Martin's coach Peter O'Dwyer said there had been misconceptions around the win.

"Tai has actually won the last two junior Stawell Gifts and the natural progression was to go on and win the main Women's Gift," he told 774 ABC Melbourne.

"She's probably improved 3 to 4 metres on her performance last year but she's a 14, 15-year-old girl and you'd expect that sort of improvement.

"At that age it's not uncommon ... the natural growth in that age would give some of those gains."

Talia Martin poses with an oversized novelty cheque for $40,000 after winning the women's Stawell Gift. ( AAP :Julian Smith )

O'Dwyer said Martin's slow run in Ararat was due to a family bereavement.

"She improved from Ararat but there were a lot of issues going in to Ararat," he said.

"Her aunty, or effectively her de facto grandmother, died that week and she'd just had the funeral and was obviously was very upset."

He denied Martin had been part of a "sting", or move to deliberately throw a race, to avoid a greater handicap.

"You obviously plan to win these races and you set them up on a training program to be at their best when it counts," he said.

"To train 15-year-old girls to sting is not really on these days, it's an old fashioned thing."

"She has a huge heart ... she was headed by a faster, stronger runner with about 20 metres to go and she just guts it out she showed huge resilience."

Talia Martin's race times Race Month Distance Handicap (metres) Adjusted time (seconds) Maryborough January 120m 11.50 14.666 Ballarat February 120m 11.50 14.280 Ararat March 120m (under 20s) 22 13.412 Stawell March 120m 13 13.696 Source: Victorian Athletic League

'It's not frequent but it is part of the sport'

Victorian Athletics League (VAL) chief executive Tom Burbidge, who won the Stawell Gift in 2010 and was fined for his inconsistent performances, said cases like Martin's were not frequent but "part of the sport".

What is handicapped racing? Handicaps are used in running races to ensure every athlete has a chance to win. The fastest runner is placed on a backmark to give a head start to slower runners. Stewards keep an eye on all runners to ensure they run to the best of their ability and do not deliberately run slow to get a better handicap. The stewards can fine athletes found to be deliberately running slow or who do not provide correct details about past performances. Source: Victorian Athletic League

"Any time you've got a sport involving handicaps there is always that element of getting under the handicappers guard in some cases," he said.

"But in other cases things get thrown up in people's lives that makes them perform better or worse depending on the circumstance."

Victorian athletics officials are considering rule changes to crack down to dramatic improvements in athletes after Martin's fine.

Tierra Exum, who finished second behind Martin in the Women's Gift, said she was happy to make the final.

"She won it off the mark so that's good for her and she was a struggle to catch down and obviously I didn't catch her," she said.

"Throughout the season you didn't see her so you didn't think she was going to come out and win Stawell. So it was a surprise but it was just exciting to get second."

Exum's coach James Karageorgiou said organisers needed to apply regulations consistently.

"In the same way that the VAL asks the athletes to run consistently, I think they need to act a little more consistently in how they deal with certain athletes."