In short:

American couple Sha'Carri Richardson and Christian Coleman have won their 120m Stawell Gift heats after starting from scratch.

Richardson burned past the women's field but Coleman had a tougher battle, winning his heat by just 0.01 of a second.

What's next?

Richardson and Coleman will be back in the semis from midday (AEST) on Monday before the women's final at 1:45pm and the men's final at 2:20pm.

Two US sprint superstars have lived up to their billing on day one of the Stawell invitational, winning their 120m heats from scratch.

Christian Coleman edged John Howe by just 0.01 of a second in the final men's heat after Richardson burned past the field in her heat.

The 100m silver medallist and 4x100m gold medallist from the 2024 Paris Olympics said she was "very confident" of becoming just the third woman to win the Stawell Gift 120m final from scratch.

And, watching the bird's eye view footage from her heat, it is easy to see why.

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Richardson won through in 13.815, ahead of Lilliana Hoffman (14.060), who started 7.25 metres ahead of her.

"It reminded me what track and field feels like; love, respect and also fun. I'm having a lot of fun out here with everybody," Richardson told Channel Seven after the race.

"It felt like being a kid again playing tag. I had a great time and it just kind of woke my body up.

"This being my first time running in 2026, it was like knocking the dust off. Chasing everyone actually made me activate and work on my race pattern, so it was a good first race."

Neither Richardson nor Coleman, who are in a relationship, were the fastest qualifiers in the heats.

Charlotte Nielsen, running off 9 metres, had the fastest women's heat time with 13.32, while Olufemi Komolafe's 12.11 off 5 metres was the fastest men's time.

The field will hit the track again on Monday.

Richardson will run in the women's semifinals from midday (AEST), before the men's semis start at 12:43pm.

The finals are at 1:45pm (women's) and 2:20pm (men's).