Athletics
22 April, 2025
A Stawell Gift to remember
John Evans has won the 2025 Stawell Gift with a phenomenal time of 11.944 seconds.
Coming off a 9.75m handicap, Evans powered ahead of Jasper Thomas (12.073 seconds) and Mitchell O'Neill (12.112 seconds) to claim the title.
While all of the attention was on sprint sensations Gout Gout and Lachlan Kennedy, a school teacher claimed the victory and $40,000 in prize money.
In a post-race interview with 1994 Stawell Gift winner Jason Richardson, Evans said he wasn't worried about a slow start.
"I've never been a very good start, but I trained with a lot of good starters,” he said.
“I know when I get to that, I can keep my nerve a bit [because] I follow on pretty well, as an ex-400 metre runner.”
Evans thanked his training squad and coach Paul Young, who won the Gift in 1985.
“A massive thank you to Youngie,” he said.
“I would not be here without you, honestly. You've done so much for me and made me want to be a better runner.”
Young said the race was never in doubt from his point of view.
“I was pretty confident in John," YOung said of Evans.
"He's got an incredible finish.
“He's a remarkable athlete. He's got the resilience, the strength and the power.”
Fittingly, Young was trained by Ferg Speakman in 1985 and, 40 years later, was awarded the Ferg Speakman Cup as the winning trainer.
“The first trophy was presented in 1991. I was part of the squad that won it, and Jimmy Bradley won it,” Young said.
“I presented the trophy in 1999 to Len Templar when Rod Matthews won it. When I got off the dais I said, ‘I don't want to be on here again unless I'm getting it’.
“It's taken another 26 years and it's very hard to comprehend what I feel right now.”
Earlier in the afternoon, Bree Rizzo clinched the prestigious Powercor Women's Gift with a blistering time of 13.521 seconds.
Rizzo narrowly outpaced Chiara Santiglia (13.550 seconds) and Jemma Stapleton (13.665 seconds) to become only the second woman in history to win the race off scratch, a feat that underscores her exceptional talent and determination.
The 29-year-old was met on the sidelines by her husband, an elated Matt Rizzo, winner of the 2017 Stawell Gift.
"This race means so much," she said in an interview with Channel 7.
“I met Matt here. He's won it, so to win [is] so incredible."
Rizzo's previous best performance at the Gift came in 2019 during her debut; she placed third with a time of 13.882 seconds off a 4m handicap.
“To win it off scratch. It's just mind-blowing," she said.
"So special. It's such a historic, prestigious race, and, I don't know, I just guess to win off scratch; I just never imagined that."
Matt Rizzo said he was proud of his wife.
"I'm absolutely stoked," he said.
"To etch her name into the plaques is pretty special to me. She's incredible.
"She's won it off scratch in red, so she's done better than me."
The open backmarkers invitation 120m, held between the women’s and men’s gift finals, featured a studded list of runners, including Kennedy and Gout Gout.
However, it was Ryan Tarrant, winner of the 2023 Gift, who won with a time of 12.27 seconds.
Tarrant surged past Chloe Mannix-Power and Jack Hale to claim the win.
