Jessica Hull ran the race of her life to snare silver in one of the most memorable moments of the Paris Olympics with Kenyan legend Faith Kipyegon holding on to win a thrilling final at Stade de France overnight.
Hull created her own slice of history by becoming the first Australian woman to win a medal in this event while breaking the nation’s track drought of 12 years since Sally Pearson’s hurdling gold at the London Games.
The 27-year-old from Albion Park on the NSW South Coast said she was inspired by a pre-game message of support from her mother Michelle, who sent her a photo of Jess as a Little Athletics wannabe.
“You know, my Mum this morning she just sent me a photo at state little athletics, I was probably 12, and she just said, ‘do it for this little girl tonight’, and that’s all I needed to hear from her,” Hull said.
“It brought me to tears a little bit, so I’m glad she sent it early on in the day so I could kind of just have that moment and then just recalibrate again.
“We can do this, and I hope I’m the first of many middle distance stars to come, because it’s a pretty damn special feeling.”
As the world record holder and winner of the event at the past two Games, she was always going to be the favourite and she toyed with the field before kicking clear on the final lap to finish in an Olympic record time of 3:51.29.
Hull timed her run to perfection, reeling in Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay, on the final lap as Kipyegon also asserted her dominance.
Hull had another Ethiopian rival to shake off in Diribe Welteji and did so to hold of British duo Georgia Bell, who finished third, and Laure Muir, to stop the clock at 3:51.29.
“Within 200m I knew it was on,” Hull said. “And I just thought, ‘OK, this is simple now’.
“They actually had our race on the back-straight scoreboard, which the distance runners had been wishing would happen all championships. And I saw there were four of us there and I was like, ‘I’m not going home empty-handed’.
“Then coming into the straight I had another glimpse and I was like, ‘there’s still four of us’, and I was like, ‘Just run through the line’. I saw Faith pulling away from us but knew the closer I was to her the closer I was to a medal.
“It’s the best feeling.”
Beaming her trademark smile after the epic finale, Hull paid tribute to her champion rival who will go down as one of the all-time legends of the track.
“If you’re going to get beaten by anybody, I’m more than happy for it to be her,” Hull said with a laugh on Nine.
“That was amazing. “I don’t even know what to say, I’m just so proud.
“I have felt so much support over the last month. I appreciate everyone’s well wishes and support, getting up at 4.15am on your Sunday. I hope it was worth it.”
Herb Elliott was the last Australian to win a medal in this event when he won at Rome in 1960 with only John Landy (Melbourne in 1956) and Edwin Flack (Athens in 1896) the only others to stand on the podium in the 1500m.
“The floodgates will probably open, there’s a lot of talent coming through,” Hull said when asked about her place in the history books.
“It’s really cool to think that Aussies are on their way.”
The Roarhttps://https://ift.tt/JyvAubi of the Day: ‘Do it for this little girl’ – Hull reveals how Mum brought her to tears before the run of her life
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