Before Anna Hall became a world champion, someone close to her helped shape her competitive spirit: her older sister, Julia Hall. Growing up in a sports-loving family, Anna was always trying to keep up with or beat her older sisters, and Julia gave her reason to push herself. “She’s definitely pushed me to be as good as I can be,” Anna said. Their shared passion for sports eventually brought them together as teammates at the University of Georgia. Years later, Anna has reached the top of her sport, winning gold at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. Now, she is celebrating her big sister’s own achievement after Julia completed the Chicago Marathon just 13 weeks after giving birth.

On October 11, Anna shared a heartfelt message on Instagram after Julia took on the 26.2-mile race. According to Anna’s post, Julia trained throughout pregnancy before taking six weeks off after giving birth and returning to running while managing sleepless nights, breastfeeding and caring for her two daughters. Despite all the demands of new motherhood, Julia completed the marathon in 3 hours and 45 minutes.

Anna also shared videos of the family celebrating the special day, including moments with Julia’s newborn daughter, Ivey, and her older daughter, Noella Marie. While Anna was there to cheer her sister on, Julia’s husband, Benjamin St-Juste, was occupied with his NFL commitments. 

Noella was even seen holding a banner that read, “My mom is faster than yours.” After crossing the finish line, Julia placed her medal around Noella’s neck. Julia was later seen breastfeeding baby Ivey, making the achievement an especially personal milestone for the new mother.

However, Julia is no stranger to competitive sports. Before taking on the Chicago Marathon, she built an impressive track and field background, earning five All-State honors in Colorado and helping relay teams win three state championships. She also won the 400 meters at a USATF Junior Olympics regional meet in 2015.

Julia went on to compete for the University of Michigan, where she was part of the school-record indoor 4×400-meter relay team in 2020. She later transferred to the University of Georgia as a graduate student in 2021, joining the same programme as Anna. She competed in the 400m and 800m, continuing her career as a collegiate track athlete.

With years of experience in competitive athletics, Julia already knew what it took to train hard and push herself. But returning to running after childbirth while caring for two young daughters brought a different challenge. Yet, long before Julia took on this new challenge, she had already played an important role in shaping her younger sister’s journey in sport.

Anna Hall and her sister Julia turned childhood rivalry into lifelong support

Growing up in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, Anna was the third of four sisters, alongside Kara, Julia, and Lauryn. Sport was already part of the family’s identity. Their father, David Hall, competed in football, basketball and track and field at the University of Michigan, while Kara played tennis and Julia pursued track and field. With older sisters to look up to, Anna was always looking for ways to keep up with them, whether it was on the track, in school, or even in their daily activity goals on their Apple Watches.

In a 2020 interview with Georgia Athletics, Anna recalled how their competitive nature extended into almost everything they did. She and Julia would compare how fast they could run at different ages.

However their relationship entered a new chapter when Julia joined the University of Georgia as a graduate transfer in 2021. Anna described having Julia nearby as “amazing,” explaining that they saw each other every day, sometimes more than once. Julia even joked that she was spending more time with Anna than she had expected. 

Some of their happiest memories came from the simplest routines. In an interview with SELF, Anna revealed that she and Julia developed a tradition of making homemade pizza together while they were at Georgia. “Making that…I always just feel close to family. Like I had a meal at my home,” she said. As Anna progressed from collegiate competition to the international stage, her sisters remained an important part of her support system.

In an interview with NBC Olympics, she explained that she relied on them on both good days and bad days. “I lean on my sisters so much. I call them almost every day after practice, tell them if I had a rough day, if I had a good day, “she said. “And they’re just always there to uplift me with, whether it’s track stuff, off-track stuff, and [they’re] always just supporting me.

For Anna and Julia, sport has always been one of the things that connects them, but their relationship has grown far beyond competition.