The BURNIE GIFT

The Burnie Gift is one of the longest-running, continuous sporting events in the history of World Sport. 

For more than a century it has been Tasmania's most prestigious sporting event. For many years the carnival has been labelled: 'the best one-day sporting event in the world!'

The first Burnie Gift was run and won on New Year's Day, 1887.

To understand the significance of that date, that first Burnie Gift was held nine years before the First Modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896.

It has been run and won annually on New Year's Day almost continually since, with the exception of 1942 and 1943, at the height of the Second World War.

The event reached its peak in the mid 1970's when more than 20,000 people attended the day and night sessions of the carnival at West Park on New Year's Day 1975. The town of Burnie, at the time, had a population of 17,000 people.

Many famous athletes have won the prestigious footrace, run over the Sheffield distance of 130 yards and, from 1973, over the metric 120 metres.

Cycling was added to the program in 1917, with the Burnie Wheel attracting some of the world's leading cyclists.

To win the Burnie Gift or the Burnie Wheel is one of the most prestigious achievements that can be attained by any athlete. 

The Burnie Gift and the Burnie Athletic Club are part of World Sporting History!  The National Trust recognises the Burnie Athletics Club and Carnival as one of Tasmania’s top ten heritage icons.