Australia's richest athletics event, the Stawell Gift, will be sponsored by the Victorian Government for the next two years.

The government announced on Thursday it would tip $120,000 into the four-day sprint carnival held over the Easter weekend under the two-year deal.

Stawell Athletic Club secretary Robert Irvine said the sponsorship deal would ensure the event could maintain $10,000 prizemoney for the women's gift, as well as increasing carnival prizemoney by 15 per cent overall.

The Stawell Gift was first held in 1878 in Stawell, in regional Victoria, and will be held from April 7-9 next year.

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