Australia Post Stawell Gift

2012 Australia Post Stawell Gift

The 131st edition of the Australia Post Stawell Gift will be staged from April 6 - 9, 2012, over the Easter weekend.

To 'Experience the Gift' is a must for any sports fan. The history and romance of the Australia Post Stawell Gift is entrenched in Australian folklore, ensuring its status as an icon of Australian sport.

The Australia Post Stawell Gift has been held in all but four years since 1878, and has developed into Australia's, and notably one of the world's, most famous and prestigious foot races.

The Australia Post Stawell Gift is a professional athletics meeting incorporating 60+ events, with athletes running off handicaps. It is a true carnival atmosphere with plenty of action off the track for all the family, including a betting ring, fashion parade and children's entertainment.

The 130th edition of the event saw a change to the typical three-day timetabling/scheduling of the event, owing to Anzac Day falling on Easter Monday. For the first time, the Carnival was held over four days, with the final of the Australia Post Stawell Gift held on Easter Tuesday.

Queensland beach sprinter Mitch Williams survived a torn hamstring in the final metres of the 2011 Australia Post Stawell Gift to hold on and win the $40,000 major prize purse in a thrilling finish at Central Park.

In what was the most open final’s field in recent years, Williams, off 6.5m, stumbled through the historic finish gates and hit the deck in a dramatic finish to stop the clock at 12.18 seconds – the fastest time of the weekend.

East Lakes’ Edward Ware (10.25m) finished just one-hundredth of a second behind in 12.19sec, with Andrew McCabe from Queensland, off 6.25m, in third (12.23sec).

Starting as the third favourite ($5.50), the nineteen year-old held his nerve on the big stage to hold out his more fancied rivals including the heavily backed early race favourites Benjamin Weaver ($2.75) and Ware ($2.75).

History and tradition - the Gift has it all and another chapter will be written in 2012.

Click here to become a friend of the Stawell Gift on Facebook or
follow us on Twitter to keep updated with all of the latest news.