Stawell Gift winners defy the downpour that threatened the event, while Olympian Peter Bol beaten in 1000 metres

Australia’s richest footrace was sent into chaos by rain threatening the Stawell Gift main events which were eventually won by two athletes each with their own story to tell. Olympian Peter Bol was able to get the jump before the weather hit, but fell short.

THE rain didn’t worry Jack Lacey, in fact he was channelling his old football days as a torrential downpour threatened to have the Stawell Gift postponed.

Having to come back another day was his biggest worry but when officials declared a 4.30pm start - more than two hours after the scheduled time - Lacey’s confidence grew.

Despite a sodden Central Park track which required officials on their hands and knees to push the puddles off it, Lacey splashed his way into the history books with a well-timed bob on the line.

Lacey was in the outside lane off 9.5m with his main challenger Jake Ireland (5.5m) back in the red on the inside which made it difficult to work out who was in front for most of the 120m.

Fortunately for Lacey he was when it mattered by just .01sec, clocking 12.27sec to defeat Ireland with favourite Endale Mekonnen (7m) finishing third in 12.33sec.

“I was quite happy with the rain,” Lacey said. “It is a strength of mine to run into a bit of the rain. I used to play footy (for Wantirna South and Heathmont), and I loved the wet.”

Finish to the men's 2024 Stawell Gift. Picture: Luke Hemer

More than 35 millimetres of rain fell in under 30 minutes, prior to the main events, throwing Australia’s richest footrace into chaos.

The last race before officials ordering everyone off the track because of lightning was the Adidas 1000m invitational featuring Olympic star Peter Bol.

Starting off the scratch mark Bol ran brilliantly to just fall short, finishing second to Riley Bryce who started off the 10m mark.

“It’s crazy weather and I haven’t raced in rain like that since I was a kid”, Bol said.

“I left it just a little bit too much to do off the back.

“I felt I had a chance to catch him (Bryce) but he was just a bit strong.”

The semi-finals for the men’s and women’s Gift had been completed before the rain hit.

Peter Bol during the 1000m Mens Handicap at the Stawell Gift. Picture: AAP Image/Joel Carett

Lacey, a 26-year-old storeman from Bayswater North, had been coming to Stawell since he was kid, following his brother Max who competed in the 400m, but he only had his first Gift run last year where he finished third in his semi-final.

“I had a go last year, I wasn’t actually quite ready for it but wanted to push myself to see where I could go,” he said.

Lacey bought a house in Bayswater North last year and plans to put the $40,000 winner’s cheque into the mortgage.

In the women’s Gift, Gold Coast beach sprinter Chloe Mannix-Power also thrived in the chaos of the delayed start thanks to her background in surf lifesaving.

Mannix-Power had been favourite all weekend and she ran brilliantly as the backmarker off 4.25m, clocking 13.42sec to defeat a pair of 18-year-olds, Chloe Kinnersly (9.75m) 13.53sec and Jemma Pollard (8.75m) 13.54sec.

“(The delay) was a little bit like surf lifesaving, you rock up to an event with no program and you just have to be ready on the line,” she said.

“That’s why we were actually praying for the rain because the rain suits us. It’s like running on the beach, which we’ve been training on and in the rain for like the past three weeks.”

Chloe Mannix-Power after winning the women's Stawell Gift. Picture: Luke Hemer

The 23-year-old’s victory gave her coach Brett Robinson a spot in the history books for having trained the most winners at Stawell, male and female.

Mannix-Power was actually contemplating walking away from running a couple of years ago before Robinson talked her out of early retirement.

“I was with another squad and it just wasn’t for me,” she said. “And then Robbo was like, ‘Well, you’re not quitting because we can do some things together’. And we’re doing things and I’m loving it.

“I’ve always been like, ‘I wish I could win one of these (Gifts)’. And when I got with Robbo he was like, let’s go and win one and we’ve just won one.”