# Burnie Gift

The Burnie Gift is a professional footrace held in Burnie, Tasmania during an annual sports carnival, held on a grass track at West Park Oval on New Year's Eve. It is conducted by the Tasmanian Athletic League in conjunction with the Burnie Athletic Club. The Burnie Gift is a sprint event conducted over the traditional 'Gift' distance of 120 metres.
Athletes are allocated handicaps with a range from scratch (running the full 120 metres) to the current limit of 12.00 metres. An athlete off 12.00m would run 108 metres. Most athletes (and winners) run from a handicap between 5.0m and 10.0m, thereby covering anywhere from 115m to 110m. Handicaps are assigned by a panel based on an assessment of each athlete’s track performances. Athletes are separated by lane ropes as opposed to painted lanes on synthetic tracks. The finish line is a finishing gate that each athlete must run through to record a time.
The Burnie Carnival is the premier running carnival in Tasmania and is considered one of the 'big three' professional Gifts in Australia along with Victoria's Stawell Gift and the Bay Sheffield in South Australia. Along with the feature event, the Burnie carnival includes races over 90m, 400m and 1600m. The Burnie carnival is one of three Tasmanian Christmas Carnivals conducted over a seven-day period from 26 December to 1 January. The other carnivals are held at Latrobe and Devonport.

## History

First run in 1885, it was initially held as the Sheffield Handicap and was renamed to Burnie Gift for the 1908 event. The carnival was traditionally held on New Year's Day, but switched to New Year's Eve in 2019. Two carnivals were held in 2019. The distance was originally 130 yards, and switched to 120 metres in 1973. The Women's Gift was introduced in 1995, although was known for the first few years as the Women's 120m Handicap.
Dean Capobianco (1991) was the first athlete to win the race off scratch (running the full 120 metres). Joshua Ross (2004 and 2007) is the only man to have won the Gift twice off the scratch mark. Capobianco and Ross are the only national 100m champions to have won the Gift.
In 2018, Hobart sprinter Jack Hale was given an unprecedented handicap of -1 metres, giving him 121 metres to run.

## Winners

| Year | Men's Burnie Gift | Women's Burnie Gift |
| 2024 | Logan James | Kayedel Smith |
| 2023 | Saye Morris | Mia Spencer |
| 2022 | Jesse McKenna | Torrie Lewis |
| 2021 | Ryan Tarrant | Kysha Praciak |
| 2020 | Aaron Leferink VIC | Hana Basic VIC |
| 2019 | Abdoulie Asim GAMBIA | Morgan Gaffney TAS |
| 2019 | Ash Moloney QLD | Bec Kovacic TAS |
| 2018 | Daniel Reeves TAS | Kiani Allen TAS |
| 2017 | Jorden Englund TAS | Morgan Gaffney TAS |
| 2016 | John Howe TAS | Lilly Castle TAS |
| 2015 | Simon Fitzpatrick VIC | Kimberley Geelan TAS |
| 2014 | Adam Coote VIC | Cara Boustead VIC |
| 2013 | Jacob Despard TAS | Morgan Gaffney TAS |
| 2012 | Brendan Cole ACT | Laura-Jane Hilditch VIC |
| 2011 | Robbie James SA | Morgan Gaffney TAS |
| 2010 | Ollie Wurm VIC | Sandy Loring TAS |
| 2009 | Clay Watkins SA | Alicia Wrench-Doody SA |
| 2008 | Duncan Tippins SA | Olivia Mills TAS |
| 2007 | Joshua Ross NSW | Melissa Kay TAS |
| 2006 | Cameron Yorke WA | Katie Moore VIC |
| 2005 | Luke Whitney TAS | Megan Hines NSW |
| 2004 | Joshua Ross NSW | Madelin Poke TAS |
| 2003 | Carnival abandoned due to rain | Carnival abandoned due to rain |
| 2002 | Darren Rogers WA | Anne-Marie Mouri-Nkeng CAMEROON |
| 2001 | Craig Brown VIC | Tamika Johnston TAS |
| 2000 | Matt Stevenson TAS | Melissa Kay TAS |
| 1999 | Simon Bresnehan TAS | Emma Marshall TAS |
| 1998 | Shaun Turale TAS | Kasey Kuusisalo TAS |
| 1997 | Paul Pearce VIC | Emma Marshall TAS |
| 1996 | David Downie TAS | Lauren Hewitt VIC |
| 1995 | Paul Slupecki VIC | Donna Collins NSW |
| 1994 | Shane Hearn WA | |
| 1993 | Simon Bresnehan TAS | |
| 1992 | Todd Ireland VIC | |
| 1991 | Dean Capobianco WA | |
| 1990 | Robert Kirsopp VIC | |
| 1989 | John Riggs TAS | |
| 1988 | Anthony Grima VIC | |
| 1987 | Frank Corsello VIC | |
| 1986 | Mark Hipworth VIC | |
| 1985 | Wayne Johncock TAS | |
| 1984 | Gary Wescombe TAS | |
| 1983 | Lee Berwick TAS | |
| 1982 | Michael Geary TAS | |
| 1981 | Neil King VIC | |
| 1980 | Gary French TAS | |
| 1979 | Ian Hagger VIC | |
| 1978 | Gary Wescombe TAS | |
| 1977 | Steve Roach TAS | |
| 1976 | Kevin Portch NSW | |
| 1975 | Gerard Thompson TAS | |
| 1974 | John Mowat VIC | |
| 1973 | Max Seymour TAS | |
| 1972 | Ralph Heffernan TAS | |
| 1971 | Barry Poulter NSW | |
| 1970 | Kerry Badcock TAS | |
| 1968 | Phillip Lincoln TAS | |
| 1929 | Len Bugg TAS | |
| 1928 | Len Bugg TAS | |