Bree Rizzo has rewritten the record books and trumped her husband Matt by winning the women's Stawell Gift off scratch in record-breaking style.
Rizzo, 29, stopped the clock at 13.52 seconds to claim the $40,000 winner's purse on Monday, despite spotting massive head starts to minor place-getters Chiara Santiglia (7.75m) and Jemma Stapleton (11m).
It was a massive 120m personal best for the Queenslander on the famed grass track at Central Park.
She ran the first 100 metres of the race in 11.26 seconds, which unofficially equates to 11.06 on a synthetic rack.
To put that into perspective, the Australian 100m record is 11.10, set last year by Torrie Lewis.
The only other woman to win the Gift off scratch was former Australian 100m record-holder Melissa Breen in 2012.
"Honestly, coming to the Stawell Gift I can't say I'm ever super confident because it's a race that is so unpredictable," Rizzo said.
"I knew that I had to bring my best, and I did.
"To run 13.52 is massive for me.
"The fastest I've ever run peg to peg at a Stawell Gift (before) is the fastest a woman has ever run - 13.77 in 2022.
"So 13.52 is a massive chop off my PB for a 120 on grass.
"I'm so glad I could bring it in that moment because that was the best feeling ever."
Rizzo's husband Matt won the men's Gift back in 2017, but he did it off a handicap of 7.5m.
"She's won off scratch in the red, so she's done better than I did," he said.
"We met here in 2019 and it just sparked her interest from there.
"I think she'd say she wouldn't have planned this in her calendar to run.
"But she just put the best performance down, and everyone just loves seeing a backmarker get up.
"I'm very, very proud of her."
The two winners' sashes will now take pride of place on the wall in the Rizzo home.
