By Colin MacGillivray

The 2026 Stawell Gift is bound to go down as a classic edition of Australia’s most storied running meet, with record-setting performances across the Easter weekend.

Thousands of spectators thronged Stawell’s Central Park for the annual event, which saw drawcard Sha’Carri Richardson of the United States become only the third woman in history to win the handicapped event from scratch.

Richardson and her boyfriend, fellow American sprinter Christian Coleman, headlined the Gift’s list of entrants, with both ranking among the 10 fastest women and men respectively over 100 metres in history.

Richardson won her way through to Monday’s final following a blistering performance in her heat on Saturday and a narrow semi-final win.

The 2023 100m world champion and Olympic gold medalist was set a tough task in the final, starting nine metres behind pre-race favourite Charlotte Nielsen.

Adding to the drama was a false start by teenager Grace Crowe, which saw her starting mark moved back a metre.

But once the race started, Richardson was imperious, running Nielsen down just before the line to claim the $40,000 winner’s purse.

The American star said she had thoroughly enjoyed her first-ever appearance at the Gift.

“The love, the support, the true enjoyment that I had on the track, I know everybody is having here,” she told the crowd.

“I had a great time – y’all feel me and y’all made this moment happen, so thank you.

“I came back from a hamstring injury so I started to kind of wind down and think maybe not this year,” he said.

“Then Christian Coleman gets announced and I’m like, ‘wow, okay, I really have to try to make something happen’. He was the trigger for me.”

Komolafe said he took risks ‘almost every day’ as he raced to be fit for the Gift.

“I would like to take it slower after a hamstring injury and make sure I don’t re-injure it, but I only had four weeks left so I had to take some risks and just train every day and be a bit relentless about it,” he said.

“Luckily I was able to come through without being any worse for wear.”

Born in Broken Hill to Nigerian parents, Komolafe and his family moved to Adelaide when he was in primary school.

Komolafe’s coach Paul Young – himself a winner of the Gift in 1985 – also trained last year’s winner John Evans, and said it was ‘the greatest sporting moment’ of his life.

“Back in October 2021 I saw Komolafe run in the all-schools. He missed the final of the 200 and I thought ‘he hasn’t got a coach – no one is guiding him’,” Young said.

“I waited outside in the car park for about 40 minutes hoping he’d come out, and he hadn’t come out so I went back in and said ‘you haven’t got a coach, have you?’

“He said no, so I said ‘you’d better come have a chat’.”

This year’s Gift also marked the 30th anniversary of Australian track legend Cathy Freeman’s famous win in the 400m handicap after trailing the rest of the field by 50 metres.

Freeman posed for a photo with the starter of that race, Stawell local Ian Sibson, who said he had fond memories of the day.

“Back in 1996 I had the pleasure of starting that race. In my 30-odd years of being a starter, that’s been the highlight,” he said.

“It was absolutely terrific to meet up and have that photo taken.”

“Back home I want y’all to know this is one of the most exciting, fun and entertaining track meets I’ve ever run in.”

Richardson said she tried to maintain her focus following the false start.

“From that I know all of us had to reset, and it was still the same race pattern – just make sure I’m patient that first 10m,” she said.

“I think I realised I was going to win right past 90m.”

Coleman was unable to make it a double for the American sprinting power couple, bowing out of the men’s Gift field in the semi finals.

But the former 100m world champion could take solace in the fact that he inspired winner Olufemi Komolafe, who rocketed off a mark of five metres to beat Jake Ireland in the men’s final.

The South Australian medical student, who only began training as a sprinter four years ago, said he might not have contested the Gift at all if not for Coleman. 

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