Jessica Hull’s historic triple title over after post-crash withdrawal
Updated ,first published
Jessica Hull’s bid to become the first Australian woman to win national titles in the 800 metres, 1500 meters and 5000 meters is over after the Olympic silver medalist withdrew from the 800 meters due to pain.
Hull was due to compete in the 800m heats on Saturday night but informed officials that he would not race after suffering a dramatic fall in the final stages of Friday night’s 1500m final.
The 29-year-old was leading the field with 60 meters to go when her rival Claudia Hollingsworth tried to derail behind her and broke Hull’s legs. The star middle distance athlete from Wollongong had a hard fall on the track and Hollingsworth went on to win.
Hull’s coach and father Simon was fuming in the stands after the race and a protest was held.
Hollingsworth was later disqualified, but the 20-year-old Victorian appealed and an independent panel found he was not at fault and reinstated him as the 1500 meters national champion on Saturday.
Athletics Australia said the request to reschedule the race was rejected but did not specify who made the request. Following reports that Hull had withdrawn from the championships altogether, the AA said it was still hoped he would run the 5000m on Sunday.
Speaking after winning the 800-meter race, Hollingsworth, who bears a huge nail scar on his left shin, said he had gone through an “up and down” 24 hours but believed the right decision had been made by the appeals panel.
“You never like to see any athlete lose, but it was a fair race,” Hollingsworth said.
“Clearly [I] I felt bad about what happened and I hope he’s okay. “I think we all raced fairly and it was just a challenge in the race.”
When asked if he had spoken to Hull, Hollingsworth said he planned to and his opponent would not be around on Sunday.
“I have not contacted Jess. There is no bad blood on my part and I’m sure there is no bad blood from her either,” he said.
“We have a lot of respect for each other and I’m definitely willing to reach out and make sure he’s okay. We’re both mature athletes and we both want the best for each other. So I really hope to see him at the next meet and compete really well against each other again.”
Hull had set himself an ambitious target of winning three races at this meet after entering the 800m, 1500m and 5000m.
That was dropped on Friday, but Hull still had a good chance of completing a career grand slam in the same trio of races and only needed to win the 800m this year to claim multiple titles in the 1500m and 5000m in previous years. No Australian woman has achieved this feat.
His selection for Hull’s Commonwealth Games team in the 1500m will now have to wait. Hollingsworth’s win (and previous qualifying time) will likely see him among the group of automatic selections for said team come Sunday afternoon.
Hull have an “A” qualifying window but will have to wait for the selectors to name the remaining athletes using discretionary selections at a later stage? Given his world-class results over the last three years, it is inconceivable that Hull would not be selected for a place in the 1500 metres.
But if Hull is keen to run the race in Glasgow, the choice in the 800 meters may not be so easy after his withdrawal.
Leading men’s 800 meters runner Peyton Craig, a 2024 Olympic semi-finalist, also faces an uphill battle to make the Commonwealth Games team after seeing him miss the final.
Craig, who qualified in the top two in a slow heat, slowed down at the line and was unknowingly run over at the line by the fast finisher Degras Amekata.
The world under-20 silver medalist’s time was not fast enough to qualify for the final as one of two additional qualifiers.
Power couple Reece Holder and Ellie Beer captured the national title in the 400 meters.
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Iain Payten is senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect with: X or email.
