Jessica Hull has won Australia’s first Olympic middle-distance medal in 56 years in magnificent style and was only denied 1500m gold in Paris by the greatest women’s middle-distance runner of all-time.
Having given it her all, Hull was preprared to settle for silver this time behind Faith Kipyegon.
But she and her coach and father Simon Hull know she is closer than ever to taking down the legendary Kenyan, who now has three successive Olympic 1500m titles to her name.
Hull, 27, came into the Games super confident and in career-best form, moving to fifth in the 1500m all-time list and breaking the 2000m world record in the space of a week in July.
She ran in the front four throughout Saturday’s final, was third with 100m to go and then overtook flagging Ethiopian Diribe Welteji in the final straight to pocket the silver in three minutes 52.56 seconds – her second-fastest time ever.
Kipyegon won in an Olympic record time of 3:51.29 with Britain’s Georgia Bell flying home to take the bronze.
It was Australia’s first Olympic middle-distance medal since Ralph Doubell won 800m gold in 1968 and the first time an Australian woman had pocketed an Olympic medal on the track at a distance further than 800m.
Hull took a sneaky peek at the big screen with 200m to go to ascertain where she was placed.
“I saw there were four of us there and I was like ‘I’m not going home empty handed’,” she said.
“And then going into the straight I had another glimpse and I was like ‘oh there are still four of us’ so it was just about running through the line.
“Even just watching Faith pull away from us but just knowing the closer I was to her, the closer I was to a medal – it was the best feeling.
“I felt so calm amongst it, even though it was really hard at that point, but I was just trusting everything I’ve done.
“I knew that I was going to get a medal, I just didn’t know what colour.”
After spending several years in the US system at the University of Oregon and then under coach Pete Julian, Hull made the big decision 12 months ago to move home and be coached by her father Simon.
It has proved an inspired call.
“I don’t think anyone knows me better in the world than him,” she said.
“He’s always pushed me to do things, to not just stay in my comfort zone.
“He told that I should try and go to college in the US and that was probably the best decision I made.
“I learnt how to race, I learnt how put myself in positions like this and I learnt how to win.”
Hull was 11th in the Tokyo 1500m final and seventh at both of the two most recent world championships.
When she came back under her father’s tutelage, he convinced her to drop the 5000m and concentrate on speed.
That paid off in spades on Saturday night in the fastest Olympic women’s 1500m final ever.
“Twelve months ago no-one was getting in the same stratosphere as Faith and then all of a sudden, you’re there,” said Simon Hull.
“Jess can’t beat her just yet but it gives you hope that if you keep working and you have your day, then anything can happen.”
It was Australia’s seventh track and field medal of the Paris Games – the second-biggest tally in Games history, behind only the 12 medals won on home soil in Melbourne in 1956.
