Bronzed finish to World Relays for Australia

The 2026 World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, Botswana finished off in style for Australia with a bronze medal and another national record for our 4x400m men’s relay team.

The team of Luke van Ratingen (NSWIS, Ben Liddy), Reece Holder (QLD, Christopher Dale), Thomas Reynolds (VIC, Matthew Oakley) and Aidan Murphy (SA, Nik Hagicostas) ran a huge time of 2:55.20 to take the bronze behind South Africa who won silver, and home country Botswana who took out the gold in scenes of jubilation at the Gaborone stadium.

The time was the fourth fastest in history of the event, a remarkable result.

“It was so surreal and such a vibe out there,” Holder said of the atmosphere. “To come out and win a medal and do a time like that is pretty incredible.”

Reynolds came in for Matthew Hunt (NSW, Ben Liddy), who was part of the then national record-breaking team yesterday during Day 1 of the event.

It was a very successful day for Australia, with all six teams competing in Botswana qualifying for the World Athletics Championships in Beijing in 2027.

In a brave run, the men’s 4x100m team of Lachlan Kennedy (QLD, Andrew Iselin) Joshua Azzopardi (NSWIS, Rob Marks), Christopher Ius (NSWIS, Andrew Murphy) and Rohan Browning (NSWIS, Jack Edwards) finished fourth with a time of 38:00.

The team finished behind the United States who took the gold medal, South Africa the silver, and Germany the bronze.

“We wanted to make the final and came wanting a medal, so to get so close is disappointing,” Ius said. “But to show the rest of the world we can do is such a good thing, and I think we are improving every year which is exciting.”

The first of the three finals the Mixed 4x400m team of Cooper Sherman (VIC, Neville Down), Mia Gross (VIC, John Nicolosi), Matthew Hunt (NSW, Ben Liddy) and Alexia Loizou (VIC, Matt Carter) came seventh with a time of 3:13:07.

Earlier in the day three Australian teams in the second qualifying races all ended up booking a spot to Beijing next year for the World Athletics Championships

The Women’s 4x400m team of Alice Dixon (NSW, Katie Edwards), Alanah Yukich (WA, Rose Monday), and Sarah Carli (NSWIS, Abbie Taddeo) and Ellie Beer (QLD, Brett Robinson) came second to Poland, with a season’s best time of 3:26.92.

It was an emotional run for the Australians, after Yukich’s father Philip passed away two weeks ago.

“All the girls have been so incredibly supportive of me after my Dad’s passing two weeks ago,” Yukich said.

“They have been wearing black arm bands in his honour. 

“It’s been an emotional roller coaster, but at the same time uplifting to have this moment with these girls.”

Beer came into the four, after Alexia Loizou (VIC, Matt Carter) ran in the first qualifying race.

First up the Australian Mixed 4 x100m lineup of Jai Gordon (QLD, Jackie Gallagher), Lakara Stallan (NSWIS, Andrew Murphy), Calab Law (QLD, Andrew Iselin) and Chloe Mannix-Power (QLD, Brett Robinson) easily won their qualifying race with a time of 40.78 to book a ticket to Beijing next year.

“This is so exciting, it’s my first time representing Australia and to see us qualify how we did, it’s an amazing feeling,” Mannix-Power said.

Law added: “We were a bit disappointed not to make the final yesterday, but we just had to trust each other today and that’s exactly what we did.

“It feels great, we’re so happy the job is finally done.”

Running out the clean sweep of qualifying, Ebony Lane (QLD, Christopher Dale), Torrie Lewis (QLD, Lauren Meuwly), Monique Hanlon (QLD, Luke Donatini) and Georgia Harris (QLD, Paul Pearce) also won their second qualifying race with a time of 42.88, bouncing back after being disqualified on Day 1.

“We had high hopes yesterday and we were quite confused and a bit disappointed, so it’s great to shake it off and come back today like we did,” Lewis said.

Luke Dennehy, Australian Athletics