{"id":132376,"date":"2026-01-26T17:41:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T17:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/132376\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T17:41:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T17:41:11","slug":"where-it-all-began-halls-first-global-gold-feature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/132376\/","title":{"rendered":"Where it all began: Hall\u2019s first global gold | FEATURE"},"content":{"rendered":"

The World Athletics Cross Country Championships Tallahassee 26 opened with a sense of inevitability. On the same trails where Linden Hall once trained as a young athlete, she began the championships not as a returning student, but as a contender \u2013 ready, at last, for her moment on the global stage.<\/p>\n

That moment arrived immediately. In the opening race of the championships, Hall helped Australia strike gold in the mixed relay, securing her first global title and claiming the very first medal awarded in Tallahassee. It was a victory that landed quickly but carried the weight of years.<\/p>\n

Because this was never just another championship for Hall; Tallahassee was part of her formation. The gold medal marked the breakthrough that had eluded her across a long international career, and it came on the ground that had shaped her long before medals were ever part of the conversation.<\/p>\n

Tallahassee is not just another dot on Hall\u2019s racing map. She studied and trained in Florida, living on campus while competing at Florida State University from 2011-2015, learning the rhythms of cross country on a course that has grown and evolved since her college days, yet still holds familiar traces of the trails she once knew intimately.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was at school, the course was really narrow down the back,\u201d she recalled shortly after stepping off the podium. \u201cWe were here when it was not what it is today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back then, the infrastructure was minimal. \u201cThere weren\u2019t even bathrooms out here,\u201d she said, smiling. \u201cThere was like a little podium and that was it.\u201d The course was functional, not finished, shaped as much by the athletes who used it as by any long-term vision.<\/p>\n

\"Linden<\/p>\n

Linden Hall warms up on the course in Tallahassee (\u00a9 World Athletics \"photographer Sergio Mateo)<\/p>\n

Hall even remembers the team workdays spent maintaining and improving it. \u201cThey used to be like team working days\u2026 mostly the boys\u2019 team, let\u2019s be honest,\u201d she joked. But those hours mattered, as they created a connection that never quite left.<\/p>\n

Now, standing on the same ground as a world champion, that connection felt tangible. \u201cI feel like I\u2019ve been able to see the changes,\u201d she said. \u201cTo see how much love has gone into making this what it is today, it\u2019s really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

What made the moment even more striking is that this was Hall\u2019s first-ever appearance at a World Cross Country Championships. Despite an international r\u00e9sum\u00e9 that includes Olympic finals and multiple global championships, this event had always remained just out of reach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to come until I was really ready,\u201d she explained. \u201cThe 10km as a senior has always been a bit far for me as a 1500m runner.\u201d<\/p>\n

The addition of the mixed relay changed everything; it landed perfectly within Australia\u2019s current strengths and Hall\u2019s own sweet spot. \u201cAustralia sending a team this year is right where we are as a team,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got great depth, and we knew this would be perfect for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The result was a gold medal that felt earned not just through fitness, but through patience. Hall spoke openly about the people behind her longevity: family, friends, training partners and Australian teammates who have collectively lifted standards since the Tokyo Olympics. \u201cWe\u2019ve all kind of fed off each other and given each other that belief,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Linden<\/p>\n

Linden Hall and Faith Kipyegon in the 1500m at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 (\u00a9 Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Emotionally, racing in Tallahassee carried an added layer. \u201cRunning here today was very full circle,\u201d Hall reflected. \u201cTo finally win a medal in something, to do it here, it\u2019s like a fairytale.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the kind of outcome that younger versions of herself could never have imagined. \u201cIf you\u2019d told me when we were here training for cross country 10 years ago, I would have laughed at you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her season has already moved on, and she carried her momentum into the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix last weekend where she finished a close second to 2024 world indoor champion Elle St Pierre in the 3000m. Hall was rewarded with an outright PB of 8:27.03, taking three seconds off the lifetime best she set outdoors last year, and finishing nine seconds ahead of Australian teammate Jessica Hull, the Olympic 1500m silver medallist.<\/p>\n

After one or two more races in the US, Hall will head home to Australia for summer competition and national championships. Future global events may or may not follow.<\/p>\n

But nothing will quite replicate her moment in Tallahassee: the first race of the championships, the first gold medal awarded, and a career-defining triumph unfolding on the ground where it all quietly began.<\/p>\n

Ainhoa Serrano for World Athletics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The World Athletics Cross Country Championships Tallahassee 26 opened with a sense of inevitability. On the same trails…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":{"0":"post-132376","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tallahassee","8":"tag-tallahassee","9":"tag-tallahassee-headlines","10":"tag-tallahassee-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}