A star-studded relay led by Olympic medallist Jessica Hull will spearhead Australia’s hopes at the 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships this weekend, where major mover Ky Robinson and the team of 28 are ready to shake things up in Tallahassee, Florida.
Following in the footsteps of Australian greats Benita Willis and Steve Moneghetti, the contingent will arrive at Apalachee Regional Park this Saturday where they will meet the world’s premier distance runners in the sport’s purest form of racing.
The nation’s Mixed 4x2km Relay team of Jessica Hull (NSW, Simon Hull), Oliver Hoare (NSW, Dathan Ritzenhein), Linden Hall (VIC, Ned Brophy-Williams) and Jack Anstey (QLD, Stephen Haas) will kick off proceedings in the first race of the day, rated highly in the medal conversation amongst the favourites for the world title, with Australia winning bronze at the 2023 edition on home soil in Bathurst.
A master of all terrains as a medallist at the Olympic Games, World Indoor Championships and World Cross Country Championships, Hull will look to build on her record on the world stage, while Hall returns to Florida State University where she studied and competed from 2011-2015.
Awaiting the Australian quartet will be the global powerhouses of Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda amongst 15 teams.
“We are lining up to win. Other people are talking about our team which gives you confidence that it’s not just us that think we are in with a genuine shot,” Hall said.
“I had a play-by-play of the entire course a couple of days ago from our old head coach. He talked me through basically every 100-metres and how it differs from when I ran it in college, hopefully he hasn’t told many people!”
On the individual front, Benita Willis stands alone as the only Australian to win a medal in the discipline with her famous victory in 2004, but the 2026 Australian lineups post enough depth to challenge for team medals in the Men’s and Women’s 10km events – led by Ky Robinson (QLD, Dathan Riztenhein) and Lauren Ryan (VIC, Stephen Haas).
Winning the Australian 10,000m title at Zatopek:10 in December, Ryan also returns to familiar soil as another graduate of Florida State University, with a top 10 finish to her name over 10,000m at the 2025 World Athletics Championships.
“I feel like I’m a great place training-wise right now. I’ve been putting in a lot of great work; cross country is a little different to the track especially with all the obstacles which I think adds some excitement to the race,” Ryan said.
“Success for me would be finishing top 15. There will be a lot of familiar faces around the course, with a bunch of my friends making the trip out to watch. I’d like to think I know this course pretty well which is a huge advantage come race day.”
A World Indoor bronze medallist and fresh off a fourth-place finish over 5000m at the World Championships, Robinson is making his mark on the global distance running scene at 23-years-old, also no stranger to cross country as the first Australian man across the line in Bathurst with 23rd place.
Seth O’Donnell (VIC, Andrew Russell) and Leanne Pompeani (ACT, Des Proctor) bring more firepower to the teams which feature six Australian athletes in each of the Senior Men’s and Women’s 10km events, along with the Under 20 Men’s 8km and Under 20 Women’s 6km.
On two occasions the Senior Women have won team bronze, in 2006 and 2008, bringing Australia’s medal tally to four in the history of the championships, with team scores calculated by adding the placings of each country’s top four finishers and then being ranked from the lowest to highest score.
The 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships will be held in Tallahassee, Florida on January 10.
Australian viewers can tune in via World Athletics + from 1:30am AEDT, Sunday January 11.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics
Posted 8/1/2026
