The 2026 World Athletics Relays in Gaborone delivered Australia’s finest relay weekend in decades — capped by a stunning bronze medal and national record in the men’s 4x400m, and headlined by a feat no other nation can yet claim: all six Australian relay teams have qualified for the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing.
Photos courtesy of Australian Athletics
Men’s 4x400m: Bronze, a National Record, and a Place in History
Luke Van Ratingen opened with a composed 44.86 before Reece Holder turned heads with a blazing 43.12 second leg. Thomas Reynolds — brought in for Matthew Hunt, who ran the heats — held the momentum with 43.43, and anchor Aidan Murphy ran 43.79, challenging bravely on the final bend and surging wide to contest the lead with 200 metres remaining before the strength of his rivals told.
The quartet crossed in 2:55.20 — a new Australian record, the sixth-fastest performance in history, and a time that would have won Olympic or World Championship gold on every occasion but two: the 1993 World Championships, where the United States set their still-standing world record, and the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
It is also worth noting Australia had already broken the long standing national record in the day one with a 2:57.30 — shattering a mark that had stood since 1984. That the team then sliced more than two seconds off it in the final speaks to the depth and ambition of this squad.
“It was so surreal and such a vibe out there,” said Holder. “To come out and win a medal and do a time like that is pretty incredible.”
The Race That Had Everything
To tell Australia’s story without telling Botswana’s would miss the full picture. The host nation had carried the weight of an entire country into the last race of the programme, and delivered one of the great relay performances in history.
Lee Eppie gave Botswana an early lead with a 44.26 opener before handing to Letsile Tebogo — Olympic 200m champion and the nation’s favourite son. Tebogo ran 43.50 but was tracked down by South Africa’s Lythe Pillay, who produced a 42.66 split — the fastest individual leg in the history of the 4x400m relay. Holder’s 43.12 kept Australia very much in the picture.
World champion Collen Kebinatshipi anchored for Botswana, drawing level with South Africa’s Zakithi Nene and Murphy at the 200-metre mark before pulling clear on the home straight to a roar that seemed to shake the stadium. Final time: 2:54.47 — the third-fastest performance in history and a championship record by nearly three seconds.
“This was the best moment in my career,” said Tebogo. “It is not about the medals at the Olympics or World Championships but how the crowd has held us together.”
South Africa took silver in 2:55.07, ahead of Australia bronze in 2:55.20.
Six From Six: Australia’s Historic World Championship Sweep
The bronze was the jewel, but the broader achievement may prove equally significant. Australia is the first — and so far only — nation to qualify all six relay teams for Beijing 2027. There’s a further reward too: by finishing inside the top four among Commonwealth nations in the men’s 4x100m, women’s 4x100m and mixed 4x400m, those three teams will also be selected for this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Men’s 4x100m: Agonisingly Close
Lachlan Kennedy, Joshua Azzopardi, Christopher Ius and Rohan Browning ran 38.00 to finish fourth — just outside the medals behind the United States, South Africa and Germany, but well inside World Championship qualification.
“To get so close is disappointing,” said Ius. “But to show the rest of the world what we can do is such a good thing — I think we are improving every year, which is exciting.”
The team equalled the national record of 37.87s in the heats.
Mixed 4x400m, Women’s 4x400m and the Qualifying Rounds
The mixed 4x400m team of Cooper Sherman, Mia Gross, Matthew Hunt and Alexia Loizou finished seventh in the final in 3:13.07. Gross (50.83) and Hunt (44.83) clocked swift flying splits. The team – with Reynolds instead of Hunt – had clocked a national record of 3:10.57 in the heats.
The women’s 4x400m — Alice Dixon, Alanah Yukich, Sarah Carli and Ellie Beer — ran a season’s best 3:26.92 to finish second behind Poland and claim their Beijing spot. Beer, with a 50.53 final leg, was the quickest. The run carried deep emotional weight, with the team wearing black armbands in honour of Yukich’s father Philip, who passed away two weeks ago.
“It’s been an emotional roller coaster, but at the same time uplifting to have this moment with these girls,” said Yukich.
The mixed 4x100m of Jai Gordon, Lakara Stallan, Calab Law and Chloe Mannix-Power won their qualifying heat in 40.78, while the all Queensland quartet in the women’s 4x100m quartet of Ebony Lane, Torrie Lewis, Monique Hanlon and Georgia Harris bounced back from a Day 1 disqualification to win their heat in 42.88.
“It’s great to shake it off and come back today like we did,” said Lewis.
