The Olympic medalist Jess Hull has steered a star-studded Australian quartet to a mighty relay win at the world athletics cross-country championships in Florida.
Ollie Hoare, Linden Hall, Jack Anstey and Hull took charge to claim gold in the 4x2000m mixed relay in Tallahassee on Saturday.
It Australia’s fifth medal in the 46-edition history of the championships.
The team clocked a time of 22min 23sec to win by three seconds ahead of France, followed by Ethiopia (22min 34sec), Kenya (22min 42sec) and the US (22min 43sec) among 15 teams.
Hoare put the Australians in contention in the opening leg before Hall opened a lead of six seconds then Anstey consolidated and Hull commanded the anchor leg.
“We’re all pretty proud of that one,” said Hull, who won silver in the 1500m at the Paris Olympics and bronze at last year’s world championships in Tokyo.
“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.
“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.”
The win was fulfilling for a group of athletes who have been making a mark on the world stage.
“With the amount of talent we have had in the past 10 years, we have always wanted to show that in a team setting,” Hoare said.
“Hopefully this shows we have great development and culture. To be able to beat those decorated teams with incredible athletes was a great experience.”
In the women’s race, Australians Lauren Ryan and Leanne Pompeani both posted top 15 finishes – a feat last achieved by the former world cross-country champion Benita Willis in 2008.
Ryan and Pompeani led Australia to fifth place in the event as a team, with Maudie Skyring and Bronte Oates placing 36th and 39th respectively.
“I set the expectation of wanting to be top 15 and that’s exactly what I did,” 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.”
In the men’s 10km Ky Robinson raced aggressively in the opening lap before consolidating for 24th place, narrowly ahead of teammate Edward Marks in 25th as the Australian men secured eighth place.
The Australian under-20 men clinched fourth place in their event over 8km, while the under-20 women secured fifth in their 6km event.
