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BIOGRAPHY |
In early 2022 Jessica was in good form during a series of races, breaking the Australian Indoor records in the mile and indoor 3000m. They were her sixth and seventh Australian records in two years. Her form continued into the World Indoors Championships with sixth in the 3000m in 8:44.97. Named in the 1500m and 5000m for the world championships and Commonwealth Games she set an Australian mile record of 4:19.89 in Portland on July 2.
After progressing strongly through the rounds she placed seventh in the 1500m final, only to discover she had COVID. Unable to run the 5000m, she recovered for the Commonwealth Games but was underdone and placed seventh in the 1500m final.
Back in Australia over the summer of 2022/23, Jessica raced the trials for the World Athletics Cross Country Championships where she led the women’s 2km race for most of the race, until Abbey Caldwell pasted her late in the race for the automatic spot. She received the second discretion position in the mixed gender 4x2km relay for Bathurst where Australia won bronze – Jessica’s first global medal.
Domestically in 2023 she was invincible, winning the National 1500m, 3000m and 5000m titles, with the 3000m in a National record of 8:31.81. At the end of her summer down under she announced she was leaving her team based in Oregon and would train out of Australia.
In May 2023 in Doha Jessica started her international season and continued her barnstorming range of performances. In Doha she clocked 4:00.90 in the 1500m, then in Florence broke the National 1500m record running 3:57.29. She twice broke the National mile record, initially 4:18.24 in Oslo, then nearly three seconds faster with 4:15.34 in Monaco. She also just missed her own National 5000m record by less than half a second in Stockholm clocking 14:44.24. At the Budapest world championships she was seventh in the 1500m final.
Her 2024 campaign has been brilliant. Fourth in the 3000m at the March World indoors, she then won her fourth National title in April – 1500m. She has set PBs at every distance from 800m to 3000m, broken five Nationals records, bringing her tally to 19.
In addition to her World Indoor performance, one race has shone, her second at the Pre Classic in late May where she continued to be competitive with the best distance runners in the world. At Pre she was second, clocked 3:55.97 in the 1500m, destroying the old National record.
In July, after a stint of high altitude training, Jess clcoked two stunning performances. In Paris she clcoked 3:50.83 in the 1500m - the fifth fastest in history, then on July 12 in Monaco she broke the 2000m world record clocking 5:19.70 - the first Aussie to break a world record since 2006 (Nathan Deakes 50km walk).
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Jessica Hull started athletics very young. “I started running in year 2 at my primary school cross country carnival. The cross country carnival was mandatory once you got to year 2 so it was my first introduction to running and I loved it! I started Little Athletics with Albion Park Little A’s later that year when the season started.”
Her father, Simon, who in his day was a national level middle-distance runner, carefully guided his daughter’s development, building a foundation with meticulous planning. After school she studied at Oregon University completed a degree in Human Physiology major (Psychology and Sports Business minors). She was a surprise NCAA 1500m champion in 2018 and over the next year added podium finishes indoors, in relays and cross country. Just three weeks after she graduated in June 2019, she destroyed her 1500m PB at Stanford running 4:02.62 to become the fourth fastest in Australian history and qualify for the Doha world championships and Tokyo Olympics. She raced a few times in Europe, including a stunning 15:00.32 5000m in Berlin – the third fastest in Australian history and fastest by an Australian for 13 years. In her senior international debut in the Doha heat at the IAAF World Championships, she was very competitive. Coasting through the 1500m heat and into the semi-final, she missed the final by one place and just 0.28 seconds. Her semi-final time of 4:01.80 was another personal best and was the fastest non-qualifying time for the final ever at a world championships or Olympics.
Her 2020 season saw her emerge as a versatile talent on the world stage. In the space of one month, Jessica shattered the 1500m (4:00.42), 3000m (8:36.03) and 5000m (14:43.80) national records and mixed it with the world's best.
Selected for the Tokyo Olympic 5000m in early 2020, Jessica Hull would wait over a year for a desired 1500m berth in June 2021. Unable to compete in both events, she dropped the 5000m from her program. She eased into her 2021 competition program in May before hitting her straps in July with 4:00.73. Set for the Olympics, she cruised through the heat in second place. In a quick semi-final, she qualified for the final after placing fourth, but the shock was her national record time of 3:58.81. Joining Jessica in the final was Victorian Linden Hall. Prior to the Games, only two Aussies had ever made the women’s 1500m final and now we have two. Australia was also the only country to boost two athletes in the final. Jessica placed 11th in the final in 4:02.63.
In early 2022 Jessica was in good form during a series of races, breaking the Australian Indoor records in the mile and 3000m with times of 4:24.06 and 8:39.79 respectively. They were her sixth and seventh Australian records in two years. Her form continued into the World Indoors Championships with sixth in the 3000m in 8:44.97.
After winning her second National 5000m title in April, she ran well in three races over two weeks in May 2022 on the Diamond League circuit, suggesting she will be very competitive at the world championships (1500m and 5000m) and Commonwealth Games (1500m and 5000m). The races included a 3:59.31 1500m on her home track – Hayward Field and an Australian mile record of 4:19.89 in Portland on July 2
At the World Championships, Jess was strong through the 1500m rounds with second in her heat and third in her semi-final. In the final she led a second pack for some of the race, finishing in 7th in a time of 4:01.82. After the race, she tested positive for COVID, causing her to isolate for five days and miss the 5000m. In an Instagram post, she wrote she was proud of her 1500m performance.
She recovered to compete at the Commonwealth Games, opting just for the 1500m, but was likely not at her best placing seventh in the straight 1500m final. She closed the season with eighth in Monaco (4:01.73), 12th in Brussels and 11th in Lausanne over 3000m.
In 2023 and early 2024, Jessica competed for Australian in four global meets. She was 7th in the 1500m at the world championships, fifth in the mile at the world road running championships, won bronze in the mixed relay at the world cross country championships and them was 4th in the 3000m at the 2024 World Indoor Championships. She also set National records over 1500m, mile and 3000m and won four National titles.
Advice to your younger self: Never place any limitations on your ability or potential outcomes. Persevere, make the most of opportunities and take ownership of your process…..Sporting ambition: Global finals then to competing for medals. “Ultimately, I want to get the most out of myself so I can look back one day and be satisfied with the effort I put into my training and preparation. No regrets!”
@ 17 July 2024 david.tarbotton@athletics.org.au