Getty Image / Maya Thompson
Sha’Carri Richardson turned a lot of heads when she showed up at the 2026 Stawell Gift race in Stawell, Australia, one of the oldest and most prestigious track and field events on earth but one that has a fairly unique twist: starting from scratch. This means as the fastest runner in the field, Sha’Carri Richardson ran each race at 120 meters while the rest of the field ran 110.
After mounting an epic comeback in the finals, Richardson became just the 3rd woman in history to win the Stawell Gift from scratch.
Sha’Carri Richardson Makes History Winning Stawell Gift Race In Australia
Over the weekend, there were several viral clips on TikTok from Aussie runners who were flabbergasted to discover they were running in the same heat(s) as Sha’Carri, the reigning gold medalist in the 4 x 100m relay at the 2024 Olympics and a gold medalist in the same event at the 2025 Tokyo World Championships…
Imagine being a locally fast runner, even a D1 runner in Australia, and you show up on race day to discover one of the fastest sprinters in all of human history is in your heat! In that situation, you hope that because Sha’Carri has to run ‘from scratch’ and sprints 120 meters to your 110 meters that the extra 10 meters might be enough of an edge to advance. Wrong. The starter fires their pistol and over the course of 120 meters Richardson snatches your soul.
Here is Sha’Carri Richardson chasing down the field from scratch to win in an epic comeback:
A truly electric win for Sha’Carri on the grass. It looked like she might need one extra kick to catch the field but she did it, and in doing so became just the 3rd woman in history to win the Stawell Gift from scratch.
What is the Stawell Gift race?
This race is held annually in Stawell, Australia on Easter Weekend. The 2026 Stawell Gift was the 144th running of the event which is said to be “Australia’s oldest and richest short-distance running event.”
The other two women to have won the Stawell Gift from scratch are Melissa Breen in 2012 and Bree Rizzo in 2025. In this race, the ‘scratch’ handicap system is designed so theoretically everyone in the field crosses the finish line at the same time and has to find that extra gear to truly push themselves ahead. Here is Sha’Carri in the heats having to chase down the leaders:
@7sportau What a heat!! 🔥🔥 #athletics #usa #shacarririchardson
On the men’s side, Australians dominate the event. The last time a non-Australian won the Men’s Stawell Gift race was in 2004 when Jason Hunte of Barbados won. Prior to Hunte, the last time a non-Australian had won was 1981 when George McNeill of Great Britain won.
For winning the 2026 Stawell Gift, Sha’Carri Richardson took home $27,500 (40,000 Australian dollars). She also became the first-ever American woman to win the race.