Australian athlete Jessica Hull denies having anything to do with Alberto Salazar amid drug storm
One of seven athletes at the world championships with links to Alberto Salazar rising Aussie star Jessica Hull has moved to distance herself from any links to the banned coach amid a drug storm.
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Australia’s Jessica Hull says she’s had nothing to do with banned coach Alberto Salazar during her time at the Nike Oregon Project.
Hull was the centre of attention in Doha after her 1500m heat given she was one of seven athletes at the world championships with links to Salazar’s elite training group.
The former college star said she’d had no dealings with Salazar since signing with Nike in July and instead had worked exclusively with his long-time assistant Pete Julian.
“No, never. I have only been there since the start of July, straight after Prefontaine but all my work has been done with Pete and Pete’s crew so I haven’t had anything to do with Alberto,” Hull said.
Salazar, who guided Britain’s Mo Farah to six world titles and four Olympic gold medals, was sent home from Doha on Tuesday after the announcement of his four-year ban for doping violations.
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The US Anti-Doping Agency found that Salazar had been “orchestrating and facilitating prohibited doping conduct” while head coach of the Nike Oregon Project.
Hull, who grew up in Albion Park in NSW, was head-hunted by Salazar’s team after a decorated career at the University of Oregon.
Athletics Australia has backed her decison to join NOP even though a number high-profile athletes, including former 1500m world champion Jenny Simpson, have expressed long-time concerns about the Nike operation.
“Anybody who knows anything about this sport knows there’s a black shadow over that group. So why anyone chooses to be part of that group I’ve no idea,” Simpson said.
Julian has worked under Salazar for more than a decade and said in 2017 - two years into the USADA investigation - that the NOP coaching set-up worked on the “one team” basis.
“Alberto and I work very closely together and we are there to step in and help no matter the athlete. Every NOP athlete gets the entire staff’s full support. We are one team,” Julian told the RunBlogRun website.
Hull says the lure of training alongside NOP athletes such as Donavan Brazier, the winner of the men’s 800m world title in Doha, and Germany’s middle-distance star Konstanze Klosterhalfen, was the main attraction.
“A big thing for me is I back myself on preparation and I know they prepare better than anyone else in the world,” Hull said.
“I was really wanted to be around people that were better than me to make myself be better, the idea of training alongside Konstanze was a big big drawcard and if you look at the wider skirts of that group Craig (Engels) and Donavan (Brazier).
“Pete is just an incredible coach . . . he said exactly what I was looking for. He said we pride ourselves on preparation then on race day we go out there and we execute, we know we have got the tools here and it comes down to what you do with them.”
Hull, 22, was contacted by officials from the IAAF’s Athletics Integrity Unit on Tuesday. They were providing all Salazar-linked athletes with a notice prohibiting them from future association.
Despite the unusual preparation, Hull was able to impress in her first race in the green and gold, finishing fifth (4min08.71sec) in her heat to progress through to the 1500m semi-finals.
“It really hasn’t changed anything, I do a pretty good job of staying in my bubble,” Hull said. “That does come from having been in the Project because you do sort of live in a bubble, you train in a bubble.
“I think I have done a good job to stay very internal and just focussed because I knew it wasn’t going to be easy for me so I had to be 100 per cent on my A-game.”
Australia’s two other 1500m representatives, Georgia Griffith and Linden Hall, also progressed through to the semi-finals.
Originally published as Australian athlete Jessica Hull denies having anything to do with Alberto Salazar amid drug storm