Australia wins the mixed relay at World Cross as Kenya misses the podium
Jessica Hull ran down France on the last leg to give Australia the 4 x 2 km mixed relay in Tallahassee, while Kenya finished fourth for the first time.
Photograph: Jessica Hull after winning the 800 m at the 2025 Portland Track Festival, by Joe Peacock, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsThe World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee opened with the 4 x 2 km mixed relay, and Australia won it. Oliver Hoare, Linden Hall, Jack Anstey and Jessica Hull ran 22:23, three seconds ahead of France. Ethiopia took bronze in 22:34. Kenya was fourth in 22:42, the first time the country has missed the podium in a mixed relay at these championships. The United States, with Ethan Strand and Sage Hurta-Klecker on the first two legs, was fifth in 22:43.
Strand led the opening leg home narrowly after trading the front with Kenya's Reynold Cheruiyot over the logs and through the mud. Hall then took Australia clear on the second leg, reaching halfway six seconds up. France's Antoine Senard closed the gap to a second at 5 km and went past, but Anstey still handed to Hull about two seconds ahead. Hull reeled in Agathe Guillemot, was two seconds up with a kilometre to go, and held off a late charge.
The under-20 races went the way the form book said. Kenya's men scored a perfect ten points for a third straight team title, led by Frankline Kibet in 23:18, and the United States took team bronze. Ethiopia's Marta Alemayo defended her under-20 women's title in 18:52. Uganda and Kenya tied on 29 points in that team race, with Uganda given gold because its fifth scorer finished one place ahead.
A relay on mud and logs rewards people who can run hard and keep their footing. Australia had four of them.
Sources: World Athletics; FloTrack.
