Middle-distance star Jessica Hull has broken an Australian national record in the 1500m with a time of 3:55.97 on Sunday, just ahead of the Paris Olympics.
This is the first time an Australian athlete has ever run the 1500m event faster than 3:56 in the women’s race. The previous national record was held by Linden Hall, who ran 3:56.00 last year at the same iconic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
Competing at the 2024 Eugene Diamond League – also dubbed the Prefontaine Classic– the 27-year-old Hull came second to Ethiopia’s World Championships silver medallist Diribe Welteji (clocking 3:53.75), with third place taken by World indoor champion Elle Purrier St. Pierre of the USA (clocking 3:56.00). Linden Hall was also in this year’s race but finished 12th in a time of 4:01.97.
Hull was preselected for the Australian athletics team for the Paris 2024 Olympics last month. This will be her second Olympic games as she finished 11th at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Last year, in Italy in June, Hull set her previous personal best in the 1500m with a time of 3:57.29. At the Doha Diamond League earlier this year, she also took the second place spot with a time of 4.00.84.
This Thursday, Hull plans to race the 3000m at the Oslo Bislett Games in Norway. Then, she’ll go up to St. Moritz in Switzerland to do some altitude training before running two 1500m in July ahead of the Olympics.
“It’s a great confidence booster for Paris,” Hull told The Guardian.
“If I look at the landscape of the sport and look at the times that I would need to medal, I need to be consistent at that mid-to-low 3:50s. So getting a 3:55 on the board today gives me confidence and I think we will find a little bit more throughout the season.”
Speaking with FloTrack as well, Hull said it was great to return to the Prefontaine Classic for an opportunity to set the new national record, as that was the goal.
“I thought I was training really hard last year– and I was– but now it’s gone to another level with another year of layering,” said Hull.
At the end of the day, however, she said she was just focused on competing and getting amongst the top women.
Australia’s middle-distance runners are going into the Olympics strong. In the men’s race, Australian duo Olli Hoare and Cameron Myers finished ninth and 11th respectively. Hoare clocked 3:49.11 and Myers posted 3:50.15, with the entry standard for men’s 1500m set to 3:50.40.
Achieving the entry standard is just one part of the Olympic qualification process, however, as the Games’ committee has the final say over which athletes are selected.
The women’s 800m final at Pre’s Classic also put on a big show as Britain’s Keeley Hodgkinson ran 1:55.78, the fastest time in the world this year, to beat Kenyan world champion Mary Moora into second.
Australian national record holder Catriona Bisset clocked her third fastest 800m time of 1:58.44 in the race for sixth place, while Australian 10000m record holder Lauren Ryan finished 15th in the 5000m race with a time of 15:03.63.