The country’s fastest athletes are locked and loaded to land Australia in the conversation with global sprinting powerhouses at the 2025 World Athletics Relays, with Australian Athletics today announcing a full contingent of six teams for the first time in Guangzhou, China from May 10-11.
With medals and qualifying positions for the 2025 World Athletics Championships on the table, the two-day affair will prove crucial for Australia’s resurgent crop of sprinting talent, headlined by Australian record holder Torrie Lewis and World Indoor 60m silver medallist Lachlan Kennedy.
Symbolic of the nation’s growing sprinting depth, Australia has earned qualifying positions for all six events on the program, with squads selected for the Men’s 4x100m, Women’s 4x100m, Mixed 4x100m, Men’s 4x400m, Women’s 4x400m and Mixed 4x400m.
Fresh off an Australian 4x100m record of 37.87-seconds at the Sydney Track Classic last month, the men’s squad will arrive in China fit and firing after a blazing Chemist Warehouse Summer Series led by Kennedy – who at 21-years-old has emerged as a central figure in the country’s relay rise.
“I’m feeling really confident for this team, we can definitely qualify for Tokyo. The camps we’ve had as part of the relay program have been really great this year. The rivalry between us all as individual sprinters is still there within camps and we all still compete with each other, but we all want to be the best at World Relays,” Kennedy said.
“We have one out with injury from Sydney, but I still think we’re the strongest we’ve ever been and I wouldn’t be surprised if we broke the Australian record again. I think anything could happen in China.”
The Women’s 4x100m were the highest placed Australian team in 2024’s instalment of the World Athletics Relays, finishing fifth in the final following a national record in the heats, while a youthful crop of talent in the Women’s 4x400m spearheaded by two-time Olympian Ellie Beer will look to build on their momentum following a global bronze at the World Athletics Indoor Championships last month.
“From going as the youngest to one of the oldest is definitely a big change but I’m so excited to be travelling and honestly having the best of laughs and fun with all my closest friends. All teams have a big shot at making World Championships later in the year, so I can’t wait to give it our all and share this experience with everyone. A big thing I missed was having a relay at the Paris Olympics so I can’t wait for us to get after it and qualify for Tokyo!” Beer said.
With 32 countries per event, the opening round will see four heats with the top two countries in each race punching their ticket to both the World Athletics Championships and World Athletics Relays Final. The remaining 24 countries will return for a second qualifying round comprised of three heats, with the top two countries in each race once again progressing to the World Athletics Championships.
The program also marks the global debut of the Mixed 4x100m Relay, running in an order of woman-woman-man-man, presenting another opportunity for Australia to flex its versatility, as General Manager – High Performance, Andrew Faichney reiterated the strong position of Australian Athletics’ relay program.
“To have a capacity squad selected across all six events for the World Relays is reflective of both the talent and depth that exists in Australian sprinting right now, and additionally their investment and engagement in the Australian relay program,” Faichney said.
“The team is a good mix of youth and experience. There is obviously a strong core and culture for not only the championships that are imminent, but so too future success geared towards the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane.
“We’re proud of how far our sprinters have come and the growing strength of the Australian Athletics relay program, and there will be lots to look forward to as the team lay down their work from our camps and the domestic season in China.”
Selections for the World Athletics Relay Championships were made from the pool of sprinters who committed to and are currently engaged in the Australian Athletics relay program. Final relay team selections for the 2025 World Athletics Championships will be confirmed in August when the full Australian Athletics team for Tokyo is announced.
The 2025 World Athletics Relays can be viewed live and free via World Athletics’ Inside Track platform from May 10-11.
Men’s 4x100m:
Lachlan Kennedy (QLD, Andrew Iselin), Joshua Azzopardi (NSW, Rob Marks), Christopher Ius (NSW, Andrew Murphy), Prince Jackson (QLD, Stacey Taurima), Jacob Despard (TAS), Josiah John (WA, Asad Hosseini), Connor Bond (NSW, Mick Zisti)
Women’s 4x100m:
Bree Rizzo (QLD, Ryan Hoffman), Torrie Lewis (QLD, Laurent Meuwly), Kristie Edwards (NSW, Andrew Murphy), Chloe Mannix-Power (QLD, Brett Robinson), Olivia Dodds (WA, Lyn Foreman), Georgia Harris (QLD, Paul Pearce), Thewbelle Philp (QLD, Leanne Hines-Smith)
Men’s 4x400m:
Cooper Sherman (VIC, Neville Down), Thomas Reynolds (VIC, Matt Oakley), Luke van Ratingen (NSW, Ben Liddy), Augustine Nketia Junior (ACT, Gus Nketia), Reece Holder (QLD, Christopher Dale), Terrell Thorne (QLD, Christopher Dale), Aidan Murphy (SA, Andrew Murphy, RESERVE)
Women’s 4x400m:
Ellie Beer (QLD, Brett Robinson), Carla Bull (QLD, Brett Robinson), Alanah Yukich (WA, Rose Monday), Laura McShane (TAS, Wayne Mason), Jemma Pollard (NSW, Tim Eschbach), Amelia Rowe (WA, Brian Pozzi), Mia Gross (VIC, John Nicolosi, RESERVE)
*The Mixed 4x100m and Mixed 4x400m events will be formed from these existing squads.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics
Posted 29/4/2025
