Overview
- Sha’Carri Richardson and Christian Coleman won their 120m heats on Saturday from scratch, with Richardson clocking 13.815 seconds and Coleman 12.681.
- The Stawell Gift uses a handicap system that gives some runners up to about 25 meters, which forced both Americans to chase the field over the full 120 meters on grass.
- Semifinals are scheduled for Monday in Stawell, with women at midday AEST and men at 12:43pm, and the finals later that afternoon awarding AUS$40,000 to each winner.
- Richardson said the race felt like a game of tag and called it a fun first run of 2026 that helped her work on her race pattern.
- Olufemi Komolafe recorded the fastest men’s heat at 12.11 seconds running off a 5-meter mark.