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 STAWELL GIFT |
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THE STAWELL GIFT
Ravelo's Stawell Gift by ABC T V Commentary
GEORGE MCNEILL
Saturday, April 22
STAWELL'S TOP 125 MOMENTS IN HISTORY
The top 10 Greatest Ever Stawell Gift moments.
"Ravelo's win rated the greatest ever"
Madagascan Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa’s historic win from the scratch mark at the 1975 Stawell Gift has been voted as the greatest ever moment in 125 editions of Australia’s iconic Easter sporting carnival.
“Ravelo’s” win edges out 2005 winner Joshua Ross, who also won the Gift from scratch, and also relegated Olympic gold medallist Cathy Freeman, dual Stawell Gift winner Bill Howard, American sprint star Warren Edmonson and Scot George McNeill in a top ten that has created significant discussion at Central Park and in the Hotels around Stawell.
“Ravelo’s’’ win in miserable conditions on a mud track has long been hailed as one of the best sprinting performances on Australian soil.
At a celebratory function at Central Park last night, dual Australia Post Stawell Gift winner Joshua Ross put aside the disappointment of being run out of the 2006 Gift to help celebrate the great moments.
“I don’t like coming second, but to be voted the second best moment ever at Stawell is a huge honour. Ravelo’s win was sensational and to be even mentioned alongside him is huge. I’m also pretty happy to say that I’ve beaten Cathy Freeman. She’s a legend and her run at Stawell to win the 400m from scratch two years in a row will probably never be repeated,” Ross said.
Public nominations were submitted from around Australia and were collated by a special committee of the Stawell Athletic Club headed by Australia’s leading athletics statistician and the world-wide president of the Association of Track and Field Statisticians, Paul Jenes. Stawell Athletic Club historian and current Gift starter Murray MacPherson and professional running legend John Toleman also ranked the top moments from 124 editions of Australia’s richest and most famous footrace.
The top ten Greatest Ever Stawell Gift Moments from 10 to 1 are:
Number 10
Scotsman George McNeill won the 100th Powderhall Gift in 1970 and won the world professional sprint title in 1977. In the 100th running of the Stawell Gift in 1981, his eight visit to Stawell, McNeill finally achieved his lifelong dream of Stawell Gift victory. In a final full of drama, 1978 winner Steve Proudlock broke and was penalised a metre. The favourite was Bryan Mueller, but in his third consecutive final McNeill won his first Gift at 34 years of age. He raced to victory in 11.9 seconds off 4m. After being chaired to the winners podium McNeill celebrated by singing "O Flower of Scotland".
Number 9
John McCracken was one of professional footrunning's great middle distance athletes He had his first Stawell win in the 880 yards Stawell Handicap in 1956 and whilst honeymooning at Stawell, won the 1958 Herb Hedemann. He won three consecutive Hedemann Handicap miles from 1962-1964. However it was the 1964 Hedemann that is most remembered. McCracken and Harry Downes both ran off scratch with McCracken prevailing in a titanic tussle in 4:02.8 in a race the Stawell historians refer to as the 'Mile of the Century'
Number 8
St Kilda's John Stoney produced what is still regarded as one of the best ever runs at Central Park when he finished third in the 1949 Gift. Running from 2 yards he was just 6 inches behind the winner J.E McCann from Broken Hill. Stoney covered the distance in 9 yards and 35 inches inside even time.
Number 7
Ballarat's Len Sprague required heavy bandages on both feet due to fallen arches. In 1939 he won the Gift from 9 1/2 yards, along with the Sprint Handicap over 75 yards. Despite the distractions of World War II the Stawell Athletic Club still managed the conduct the Easter meeting in 1940 and 1941. In 1941 Sprague won the 220 yards Stewards Purse, running off scratch he set a new professional world record of 21.1 seconds.
Number 6
American Sprint star Warren Edmonson represented the USA at the Olympic Games and was national champion in 1972. Edmonson first came to Stawell for the World Sprint Championship in 1974, an event he won on four occasions. In 1977 he made his assault on the Centenary Year Gift. Running from 1¼m he hit the tape in a winning time of 12.0s to become the second American to win the Gift, the previous being E.S. Skinner in 1889. Edmonson's win was the second fastest run at Stawell at the time behind Ravelo's win two years earlier.
Number 5
Cathy Freeman was already one of the world's best 400m runners by the time she lined up in the 1995 women's 400m final. Freeman produced the first of two stunning wins from scratch to claim victory in 53.24 seconds. In miserable conditions in 1996, Freeman survived a number of checks between the Hall of Fame and the finishing straight to clamber over the field to produce a remarkable win that demonstrated her dislike of defeat. Her winning time was 50.48 seconds and she went on to break her own Australian record with a superb 48.63 seconds in winning silver at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games just four months later.
Number 4
Harry Downes became the first professional athlete to break four minutes for the mile running 3:59.7 in Bendigo in 1963. At Stawell it was his seven wins, a second, a third and a fourth that distinguished him as a Stawell legend, including three consecutive Herb Hedemann wins in 1967, 68 and 69 - all from scratch and all just outside 4 minutes for the mile.
Number 3
Wodonga Accountant Bill Howard claimed his first Stawell Gift in 1966. At just 20, Howard claimed his first Gift n 11.9 from 8¾ yards despite a broken bone in his foot. He became the first runner to win back-to-back Stawell Gift's when he returned to Central Park to win the 1967 Gift. Despite injury which severely limited his preparation to just one outing before Easter, he created history to win the Gift in a sparkling 11.6 seconds off 5¾ yards. 30 minutes later he returned to win the Invitation 220 yards off 5 yards in 20.8 seconds. Injuries curtailed his career, however the Stawell Athletic Club honoured his efforts by renaming the Park Handicap the Bill Howard Handicap in 1968.
Number 2
To a thunderous roar, Joshua Ross hit the lead before the 100m mark in the 2005 Gift final, going on to score a convincing win. Ross had previously won the Gift final in 2003 by a massive margin and went on to compete for Australia at the 2004 Athens Olympics after being narrowly beaten in the semi final in 2004. Racing off scratch in 2005, Ross become only the second athlete to win from the mark of honour and became just the third athlete to win the Gift twice. For all Ross's achievements, he is best known for winning Stawell off scratch.
Number 1
1968 Mexico Olympics 100m finalist and three time Olympian Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa from Madagascar produced the greatest ever moment at the Stawell Gift winning the 1975 final from scratch. "Ravelo' was brought to Stawell by promoter John Toleman for the World Sprint Championships and the Gift. In cold and wet conditions, the cantankerous Ravelo threatened not to run on the morning of Easter Monday and started at 15/1 before his semi final. After winning in 12 seconds he became the odds-on favourite. He repeated the run in the final to create his place in history becoming the first athlete to win the Gift from scratch
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