Opinion
‘She said I was marvellous’: Why world record breaker congratulated Aussie rival
Peter FitzSimons
Columnist and authorAt the Diamond League meeting in Paris on Sunday, Jessica Hull broke the Australian women’s 1500m record with a time of three minutes, 50.83 seconds. The 27-year-old finished just behind Kenya’s two-time Olympic gold medallist Faith Kipyegon – who smashed the world record with a time of 3:49.04 in the final.
I spoke to Hull on Tuesday.
Fitz: Jessica, congrats on your run in Paris on Sunday, the fifth-fastest women’s 1500m time since Joan of Arc first escaped the heathens.
JH: [Laughing] Thank you. It felt amazing.
Fitz: I speak on behalf of Australia – where did YOU come from? When did you start running, and racing?
JH: [Joyously] I’ve been running since I was eight. I joined Albion Park Little Athletic Club after doing some school athletic carnivals. My dad [Simon Hull] ran middle-distance events, so he coached me, and I just fell in love with it more and more every day, and I love what I get to do.
Fitz: What was your breakthrough as an adult?
Faith Kipyegon just ahead of Jessica Hull in Paris on Sunday.Credit: Getty Images
JH: I went to the University of Oregon when I was 18 and my coaches there were wonderful, too. They kept me in the sport when a lot of women my age were dropping out. They created an environment where you could go to training every day and get excited.
Fitz: And your times have just continued to get better.
JH: Yes my father – who is still my coach – always wanted me to go and race against the best in the world, and I’m finally getting to do that. Him believing in me and always reminding me, “don’t put a limit on what you think you can do ... you never know”, is always with me.
Fitz: So you did well at the Tokyo Olympics with three minutes, 58 seconds in the semis, and in late May this year, back in Oregon, you did a 3.55!
JH: I know, it’s crazy, right? But even in Oregon, I knew I had more in me.
Fitz: You said in an interview you’ve worked harder in training in the last five weeks than ever. What were you doing?
JH: Yes. We’ve changed things up each year as I get a bit stronger and I’m a little bit more able to handle the load. And during those five weeks of altitude training in Switzerland, I was just really dialled in to training hard, while also respecting the fact that I was up at 1700 metres altitude, which meant after the work was done, I had to rest. And that just helped me totally absorb more and more work with great training partners who got me through some mega sessions that I never thought I was capable of. My splits kept getting lower.
Fitz: OK, we’re nearly there, almost ready for the Diamond League meeting in Paris on Sunday.
JH: Yes! I just knew that after all that work, and those great splits at training, I really could get into the low 3.50s if everything came together on the day.
Fitz: Right, we’re here, on the starting line with you. Just to your right, as you go into the crouch, is the greatest runner your sport has ever seen, world record holder Faith Kipyegon. Talk us through it.
JH: I’m good to go. I had so much trust in my training and the heavy work that I’d done, that I just felt I was ready to attack that race. And it was great that Faith was there, as she has changed the game. If you watch what she’s done over the last 18 months in this sport, she’s thrown down the gauntlet to all of us and said, “Catch up ladies”. And Sunday was the first time I felt ready to even try.
Fitz: On your marks ... get set ... BANG!
JH: I’m in the moment, so focused on what I’m doing, I’m not really thinking about pain. I’m just so committed to going with Faith that I disassociate, sort of, out of my body but then there’s the point when it gets really hard and that’s coming up to the 800-metre mark. I know we are running very fast, but I say to myself, “Do not look at this clock, do not look at the clock!” Because I know if I look at it, it would be so fast, I might feel the pain. Just focus on Faith.
Jessica Hull competing in the 5000m at last year’s world championships in Budapest.Credit: Corbis via Getty Images
Fitz: We’re with you, Jess. Keep the Faith, keep the Faith!
JH: And I’m telling myself to relax, telling myself I’ve done the work to do this, to stay with her, trusting it. And that’s very internal, to try not to think about how hard I’m breathing, or how much my legs hurt, trying to trick myself.
Fitz: We’re still with you. And now, the bell has gone for the final lap.
JH: I’m running hard. On the back straight, for the first time, Faith is just starting to get a step or two away from me, which was a lot further into the race than I expected. I had hung on.
Fitz: Stay with her, Jess. Don’t let her get away!
JH: She is getting away, a bit, but I’m like, “OK, run your own race, stay smooth, stay smooth, don’t lose your rhythm. And keep running!” At a race in Florence last year, I learnt how important it is to just dial in to the back of the athlete in front of you, even when they are running away from you, because otherwise you start to go totally just back to yourself, start to think how much this hurts and how fast you’re running – and you slow. So here, I just tried to look at the back of Faith and tried to use it as a distraction and a motivating thing, because it’s not very often you get a front-row seat like that, just to see the world record being set right in front of you. It’s pretty special.
Fitz: You’re into the final straight. And Faith’s looking around.
JH: Yes, it was different for her. I think she was more surprised [to see someone] than anything as she’s had such a gap on the field for so long. And though I couldn’t close on her, I really did hold on strongly over the last 100 metres. It was a great race!
Fitz: How was Faith afterwards?
Faith Kipyegon celebraing her 1500m world record in Paris on Sunday.Credit: Getty Images
JH: She was so happy for me. I’ve broken a lot of Australian records over the last few years racing behind her, and the best thing about Faith is that she brings you along with her. Every time I’ve broken an Australian record in the race that she might have broken the world record, she’s very quick to congratulate me on my national record. And on Sunday, she said I was marvellous. That was a nice compliment coming from the best runner who’s ever done it!
Fitz: So, as President Joe Biden said to Donald Trump, how low can you go? Can you break the 3.50 barrier for the Olympics, and maybe break Faith?
JH: That’s the big question. I do think I’ve got more in me. I’m not tapered, so you never know. If I look at my training, I don’t think I’m tapped out to the point where I can’t go faster again. Faith is the greatest [1500m] runner we’ve ever seen, and I have to respect that. But what’s the point of doing this sport if you’re not going to try beat everybody in front of you? But yeah, I am excited to line up with her.
Fitz: Your enthusiasm for the whole thing is infectious.
JH: Faith’s just totally raised the bar for all of us. And when you know how she is as a person as well, it’s pretty incredible to think she wants the whole sport to move forward like that. It’s taken some time for that to ricochet through, but over the last 12 months, the women’s 1500 has exploded. And I think over the next 12 months it will be insane, just the way the men’s 1500 did off the back of the Tokyo Olympics.
Fitz: Thanks so much. Be assured that when you do hit the straight in the Olympics final that Australia will be cheering itself hoarse, so you’ll have our wind at your back.
JH: Thank you. I appreciate it!
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