US sprint star Sha’Carri Richardson wins 2026 Stawell Gift off scratch in thrilling finish

about 4 hours ago

American sprint queen Sha’Carri Richardson has lived up to her star status as she chased down the field off scratch to win the 2026 Stawell Gift in a thrilling finish.The Olympic 100m silver medallist and sixth-fastest woman in the world joined hundreds of local spectators and athletes in the small rural town 200km north-west of Melbourne on Monday to take part in the handicap race for the first time.The Stawell Gift is Australia’s oldest and richest running race, with the 120m distance being one of the country’s most prestigious athletics events.Athletes run on grass from a mark determined by their form and ability.In the 144th edition on Easter Monday in Stawell, the 26-year-old Richardson crossed the line in the women’s final with a record time of 13.

15 seconds, in front of Charlotte Nielsen in second (13,20s) and Chiara Santiglia in third (13,36s),But it nearly wasn’t to be after Richardson eased up in her semi-final, standing tall as she finished instead of dipping on the line and only pipping Halle Martin by seven thousandths of a second to book her final berth,The final started in her favour, however, with a false start by 17-year-old Grace Crowe in the lane next to Richardson.

Crowe was forced to move her blocks back one metre to 3.25m, providing Richardson – starting at 0m – a closer target to chase.Nielsen started with a nine-metre handicap and led the six women for most of the distance until Richardson closed her down in the final metres.Although the American promised to run through the line in the final after the photo-finish in the semis – something she said she was working on with coach Dennis Mitchell – Richardson again appeared to stand up rather than lean forward as she crossed, just five hundredths of a second the difference this time.Richardson becomes the third woman to win from scratch and takes home $40,000 in prize money.

Nielsen pockets $6,250 for her second-place finish – a consolation prize for a time that would have got her first in every previous edition of the race.“I think I realised I was going to win right past 90 [metres],” Richardson said after the race.“The love, the support, the true enjoyment that I had on the track … I know everybody’s having here.“Y’all made this moment happen.So thank you.

”The Stawell Gift would have offered a stark change in racing environment for elite sprinters like Richardson and her partner, Christian Coleman.The pair are probably not used to banging their blocks into grass with a mallet on a field cordoned off with flags strung between wheelie bins.In the men’s 120m final, Australian Olufemi Komolafe won in an impressive 11.93s off a five-metre start, with Jake Ireland second in 12.07s.

Komolafe, 21, who is a fourth-year medical student, was disappointed not to line up against his “idol” Coleman, which had been his motivation to enter the race to begin with.Coleman did not make the cut for the men’s 120m final, finishing fifth in his semi-final off scratch.“I gave it everything I got,” he said after the semi-final.“You give them that much of a margin, it’s pretty tough.“I hope everybody continues to watch and support [athletics].

I’m definitely looking forward to a really good season, trying to improve over that last 40 to 100.And so I feel really good about it.”

cultureSee all

Post your questions for DJ Shadow

It’s almost 30 years since DJ Shadow released his era-defining debut album, Endtroducing….., and as is the way of the nostalgia industry, it had a lavish 25th-anniversary reissue five years ago, remastered at Abbey Road studios. It was such a success that Shadow has decided to repeat the process and clean up his “pre-album and non-album” catalogue. In May comes The Mo’Wax Singles 1993-1997, a box set featuring eight 12ins with all the Californian producer’s singles for James Lavelle’s label, plus alternative mixes and brand new art

3 days ago

Stephen Colbert on Trump attending birthright citizenship hearing: ‘That’s mob-boss-level intimidation’

Late-night hosts tore into Donald Trump’s intimidation tactics at the supreme court hearing on birthright citizenship and another judge’s order to halt construction of his White House ballroom.Wednesday was “a big night on all the broadcast networks”, said Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, as Trump gave a primetime national address on the war in Iran.“It was concise, intelligent and brought the nation together with shared purpose,” Colbert said. “April fools! Trump gave a speech tonight, on the first night of Passover. So whether you’re Jewish or not, I recommend having had four glasses of wine

4 days ago

Colbert on Trump’s shifting tone on Iran: ‘It’s a military strategy known as starting a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle’

Late-night hosts touched on soaring oil prices from Donald Trump’s war in Iran as he backs down from solving the crisis in the strait of Hormuz.Stephen Colbert opened Tuesday’s monologue with an acknowledgment that for the first time since 2022, gas prices have soared to more than $4 a gallon. “I mean, who could’ve seen this coming? Just two days ago gas was a reasonable $3.98,” the Late Show host quipped. “Yesterday it was $3

5 days ago

Jon Stewart on Trump: less war leader, more ‘grandpa who’s lost his filter’

Late-night hosts checked in on Donald Trump’s costly “improv” war in Iran, which he cannot seem to focus on for more than one minute.This week marks a month of Donald Trump’s unauthorized war in Iran, “and as we all know, one month is the elevated threat anniversary”, joked Jon Stewart on Monday evening.“Trump is threatening to escalate our bombing campaign unless Iran opens the strait that they closed in response to Trump’s bombing campaign,” the Daily Show host explained. “I believe we’ve entered what General Patton used to refer to as the ‘human centipede portion’ of the war.”Stewart then mocked news coverage of the strait of Hormuz closure, which focused on potential disruptions to the supply of Dubai chocolate, the chocolate bar with pistachio paste that has become a favorite treat of influencers

6 days ago

Chatting dating, jazz and the Harlem Renaissance: the exclusive supper clubs where Black women nourish community

Dimmed lights and the honey-like vocals of R&B singers greeted guests at Sost, a restaurant in Washington DC, in late December. Though they entered as strangers, the 11 Black women attendees hugged each other before taking their seats. The ambiance was intimate and soulful, with a sparse table setting in a private room that boasted deep red walls. Crystle Johnson, the founder of Kinory, a dining community for Black women, led the group in a moment of silent meditation.As an icebreaker, everyone shared who they were without talking about their profession

6 days ago

Smiley Face: finally, a stoner comedy for the girls who get overstimulated at the supermarket

Gregg Araki’s comedy-of-errors film stars Anna Faris trying to complete everyday tasks in an astronomical state of high. It’s downright terrifyingGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailIt’s hard not to feel a strange sense of kinship with each of the hapless heroines played by Anna Faris. Though she’s generally underrated, her signature blend of anything-for-a-laugh slapstick and absurdism makes her an adorkable standout in every project. While she has been praised for some of her work (The House Bunny, Scary Movie), her portrayal of an empty-headed LA stoner in Gregg Araki’s 2007 comedy Smiley Face remains an unsung triumph.Landing three years after Araki’s dark, critically acclaimed drama Mysterious Skin, Smiley Face was a left turn: a stoner comedy following the mishaps of perpetually buzzed, often unemployed economics student-turned-actor, Jane

6 days ago

technologySee all