Australia's men's 4x400m relay team delivered a thrilling performance to secure the bronze medal at the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, Botswana, clocking the sixth-fastest time in history. The quartet of Luke van Ratingen, Reece Holder, Thomas Reynolds, and Aidan Murphy pushed the home favourites Botswana and South Africa to the line in a race that was decided only in the final metres.
National Record and Historic Time
The Australian team's time of 2:55.20 broke the national record they had set just a day earlier in the preliminary round. Remarkably, this time would have won gold at every Olympic Games except Paris 2024, where the United States held off Botswana. The performance also came within a second of the long-standing world record set by the United States' 1993 world championship-winning team anchored by Michael Johnson.
Redemption After Tokyo Disappointment
This success helped erase the pain of the 2024 world championships in Tokyo, where a positioning error by Murphy led to the team's disqualification from their heat. Holder described the experience as surreal, noting the carnival-like atmosphere created by the passionate home crowd in Gaborone. He ran the second leg in a split time of 43.12 seconds, the third fastest in the race, behind only Botswana's Collen Kebinatshipi and South Africa's Lythe Pillay.
Pillay's split of 42.66 seconds was recognised as the fastest ever recorded in the event, surpassing Johnson's previous mark from 1993 by a quarter of a second. The dramatic finale saw Murphy push world champion Kebinatshipi and South Africa's Zakithi Nene around the bend and down the final straight, as the jubilant home fans urged on their countrymen.
Australia's Rising Force in Relays
Australia's performance underscores its emergence as a force in team-based events. Athletics Australia has invested in dedicated relay camps and training in recent years, and the decision appears to be paying dividends. Australia was the only nation to qualify all six relay teams for the Beijing world championships, highlighting both depth of talent and consistent execution in each event.
The women's 4x400m team of Alice Dixon, Alanah Yukich, Sarah Carli, and Ellie Beer also impressed, finishing second to Poland with a season's best time of 3:26.92. The men's 4x100m team came agonisingly close to a medal, finishing fourth. Bend-specialist Chris Ius expressed disappointment but noted the team's improvement each year.
The mixed 4x400m team finished seventh in their final, while the other three squads — the women's 4x100m, 4x400m, and mixed 4x100m — all progressed through qualification races to book their places in China for next year's world championships.
