Jessica Hull would have to wait almost a year for a coveted 1500m slot in June 2021 after being selected for the 5000m at the Tokyo Olympic Games in early 2020. She was unable to train for both events, thus she did not run the 5000-meter race. She started her 2021 competitive schedule in May and got her stride in July, clocking a 4 minute, 73 second mile.
J. Hull Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
She finished in second place in her heat, qualifying her for the Olympics. She surprised everyone with a national record time of 3:58.81 in a lightning-fast semi-final, which earned her a spot in the final. Linden Hall, a Victorian like Jessica, also made it to the championship game.
Only two Australian women had ever qualified for the Olympic final in the 1500-meter event before these games. Australia was the only nation to have two competitors competing in the gold medal match. With a time of 4:02.63, Jessica finished 11th overall.
Since the 2019 World Championships, I believe, we have known that I was prepared to do it (dip under 4 minutes). Pete (Julian, her coach) made a joke the other day about how I was in 3.57 form and 3.58 and 3.59 never needed to know, so I guess I was 3.59.99 back then and 3.58 today.
During a string of early 2022 events, Jessica was in top form, setting new national marks in the mile (4:24.06) and the 3000 metres (8:39.79). Both of those albums became her sixth and seventh Australian top tens in less than two years. Her form carried over to the World Indoor Championships, where she finished in 8 minutes, 44.97 seconds, in the third-mile event.
She ran strongly in three races over the course of two weeks on the Diamond League circuit in May after earning her second National 5000m title in April, suggesting she will be highly competitive at the world championships (1500m and 5000m) and the Commonwealth Games (1500m & 5000m). Her best time in the 1500 metres was 3:59.31 on Hayward Field, her home turf.
Last Words
Jess had a strong World Championships, placing second in her heat and third in the semi-finals. She finished the final in 4 minutes, 1.82 seconds, placing seventh and leading a second pack for a portion of the race.
She tested positive for COVID after the race, forcing her to skip the 5000m and quarantine herself for five days. She gushed about her 1500m run in an Instagram post.
