Australian World Athletics Relays Team By The Numbers, a recipe for success

It really is one of the Australian athletics success stories of recent times, just how well the Australian team performed at the World Athletics Relays last weekend in Botswana.

Australia was the only team competing at the event to have all six teams qualify for the World Athletics Championships to be held in Beijing in 2027.

It was capped of in the very last race of the meet, with our 4x400m team of Luke van Ratingen (NSWIS Ben Liddy), Reece Holder (QLD, Christopher Dale), Thomas Reynolds (VIC, Matthew Oakley) and Aidan Murphy (SA, Nik Hagicostas) who took out a bronze medal with an Australian record time of 2:55.20.

They did so under huge pressure in the stadium, as home favourites Botswana took out the gold medal with the whole nation watching on.

Australian Athletics General Manager of High Performance Andrew Faichney said the team’s performance is no fluke, after he and his team led by the relay squad’s Head of High Performance Relays, David Reid,  put in a plan three years ago, with the results and numbers now speaking for themselves.

“We looked at it a couple of years ago and saw a real opportunity for the relays,” Faichney said.

“We have a group of coaches (Craig Pickering, Craig Walsh, Matt Lynch and Leana Joyce ) who are able to work so well with our athletes, and their individual coaches.

“It’s the culture they have been able to create, and you can see that with the joy on the athletes faces as they are competing

“The intent and their desire to perform at a high level is so obvious.

“The other part is, we wanted to create a culture where the athletes wanted to run relays and we’ve got that. 

“From there, they actually want to win, it’s that intent is something that money can’t buy.

Faichney called the men’s 4 x 400m relay race one of the most impressive the sport of athletics has seen,. 

“It was incredible, it was one of the greatest performances we have ever had, across all events. 

The numbers don’t lie.  

Australian Athletics did a deep dive into the numbers, and it’s impressive: 

SIX FOR SIX: Australia was the only country at the 2026 World Athletics Relays to qualify all six teams. The men’s and women’s 4x100m, the men’s and women’s 4x400m, and the mixed 4x100m and 4x400m. 

4TH ALL TIME:  Claiming bronze in the Men’s 4x400m with a time of 2:55.20, Australia becomes the fourth-fastest nation of all time.  This time was 0.91 off the men’s 4x400m World Record. 

4.50 SECONDS:  Timetake off the Men’s 4x400m relay Australian record, which had stood since 1984.

1.63 SECONDS: Time taken off the Mixed 4x400m relay Australian with a time of 3:10:57. 

37.87:  The Men’s 4x100m relay squad equalled the Australian record. 

5TH AUS ALL TIME:  The Women’s 4x100m relay time of 42.88 is the fifth fastest in Australian history. 

THREE AUSTRALIAN RECORDS: 

Mixed 4x400m:  Cooper Sherman, Ellie Beer, Thomas Reynolds & Mia Gross  3:10.57

Men’s 4 x100m: Lachlan Kennedy, Joshua Assopardi, Christopher Ius & Rohan Browning (NSWIS) 37.87. 

Men’s 4x400m: Luke Van Ratingen, Reece Holder, Tom Reynolds & Aidan Murphy 2:55.20 

*Note the Day 1 record for the 4x400m team was not ratified by World Athletics.

The World Athletics Relays in Botswana really was a meet for the ages for the Australians.

Luke Dennehy and David Tarbotton, Australian Athletics