Australian distance running is on top of the world today after Olympic medallist Jessica Hull anchored the nation to gold at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships, leading strong results across the board on a historic day in Tallahassee, Florida.

Lining up in the opening race of the championships, Australia’s Mixed 4x2km Relay team looked right at home alongside the global powerhouses of Kenya, Ethiopia and the United States, with the quartet banding together to deliver a famous victory.

It was Oliver Hoare (NSW, Dathan Ritzenhein) who landed the team in contention on the first leg before Linden Hall (VIC, Ned Brophy-Williams) launched Australia into a six-second lead on leg two, as Jack Anstey (QLD, Stephen Haas) consolidated proceedings before Jessica Hull (NSW, Simon Hull) commanded the anchor leg.

“We’re all pretty proud of that one! There’s been a belief that we can not just medal, but we can probably win it, and we all carried that into today because we weren’t afraid to try and run to win,” Hull said.

“From the moment that Olli popped up from the mud pit just a few steps behind Reynold Cheruiyot, I just thought we are so on. Linden had a blinder, she was so measured and calculated, and Jack held his own off 10 days’ notice – I’m really proud of him.”  

Australia completed the 4x2km circuit in a time of 22:23 to win by three seconds ahead of France, followed by Ethiopia (22:34), Kenya (22:42) and the United States (22:43) amongst 15 teams – marking Australia’s fifth medal in the history of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships.

“With the amount of talent we have had in the past 10 years, we have always wanted to show that in a team setting. Hopefully this shows we have great development and culture. To be able to beat those decorated teams with incredible athletes was a great experience,” Hoare said.

With course landmarks including the rollercoaster hill, Florida beaches, alligator alley and a mud pit, Australia’s success rolled into the Women’s 10km where Lauren Ryan (VIC, Stephen Haas) and Leanne Pompeani (ACT, Des Proctor) both posted top 15 finishes – a feat last achieved by World Cross Country champion Benita Willis in 2008.

The duo led Australia to fifth place in the event as a team, with contributions from Maudie Skyring (VIC, Craig Mottram) and Bronte Oates (NSW, Katie St Lawrence) in 36th and 39th placings respectively.

“I set the expectation of wanting to be top 15 and that’s exactly what I did. I made some pretty smart decisions throughout the course to not go out super hard, and I definitely made the smart decision to get water bottles every lap,” Ryan said.

“It was way tougher than I thought it would be overall but I’m really proud of the performance. Australian distance running has really taken off and we are showing we can be world champions like the relay team, as well as have a couple of top 15 results.”

The Men’s 10km saw Ky Robinson (QLD, Dathan Ritzenhein) race aggressively in the opening lap before consolidating for 24th place, narrowly ahead of teammate Edward Marks (VIC, self-coached) in 25th, as the Australian men secured eighth place.

The next wave of Australian distance runners ran inspired in the hour following the country’s Mixed 4x2km Relay gold, with an emerging group of Under 20 Men clinching fourth place while the Under 20 Women secured fifth – led by Harrison Boyn (NSW, Ben Toomey) and Isabella Valinoti (QLD, Lizel Moore) in 23rd and 19th placings respectively.

The 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships were held in Tallahassee, USA.

Australian Athletics

Tags Jess HullOli Hoare
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