Australia’s sprinters have achieved a rare feat on a medal-winning day for the country at the world relays in Botswana.
The men’s 4x400m squad claimed bronze and all six relay teams qualified for the 2027 world athletics championships — something no other country managed to do at the weekend.
Luke van Ratingen, Reece Holder, Tom Reynolds and Aidan Murphy backed up the country’s heat win with another national record to secure a podium finish in the final.
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Hosts Botswana made up for their showboat blunder in the heat to claim gold ahead of South Africa and Australia.
“It was so surreal and such a vibe out there,” Holder said.
“To come out and win a medal and do a time like that is pretty incredible.”
The men’s 4x100m team of Lachlan Kennedy, Josh Azzopardi, Chris Ius and Rohan Browning finished fourth in the final, falling 0.24 seconds short of the podium.
The United States claimed gold from South Africa and Germany.
“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 mixed 4x400m team of Cooper Sherman, Mia Gross, Matthew Hunt and Alexia Loizou ran 3:13.07 to finish seventh in their final.
The three groups of finalists were joined in qualifying for the world athletics championships by their mixed 4x100m and women’s 4x400m and 4x100m teams.
Jai Gordon, Lakara Stallan, Calab Law and Chloe Mannix-Power were comfortable 40.78 winners in their second-chance race
“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 said they were “a bit disappointed” to miss the final.
“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,” he said.
Alanah Yukich inspired the women’s 4x400m team also featuring Alice Dixon, Sarah Carli and Ellie Beer to 3:26.92 and a second-place finish to progress.
Yukich ran just two weeks after the death of her father Philip.
“All the girls have been so incredibly supportive of me,” 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.”
Ebony Lane, Torrie Lewis, Monique Hanlon and Georgia Harris wrapped up Australia’s six-for-six result by winning their 4x100m second-chance race.
The quartet had been disqualified from their heat on the opening day.
“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.
The six Australian relay teams are now locked in for the 2027 world athletics championships in Beijing, with Canada and Great Britain next best with five qualifiers apiece.
