‘That surprised her’: How Jess Hull plotted to take on the greatest 1500m runner of all time

Jess Hull’s world changed within six days when she flipped the expectations of the Olympics world on their head.

In two races six days apart, the Australian 1500m runner broke a world record (in the 2000m), ran with the 1500m world champion almost to the finish line, and slashed five seconds from her own personal best while setting a national record.

Jess Hull believes she could be the one to close the gap on Faith Kipyegon.Credit: Getty Images

Kenyan runner Faith Kipyegon is an imperious figure in her sport. But Hull sent out a signal that the gap between Kipyegon and the rest of the world had narrowed, and that Hull might be the person to take down the champion.

The 2000m world record she set at the Monaco Diamond League meet was not over an Olympic distance, but it was a world record all the same and affirmed in Hull’s mind just how ripe she was coming into Paris 2024.

That she did it so soon after the Paris Diamond League meet, when she took on Kipyegon and slashed her best time by five seconds, was further affirmation.

“It showed me that I’ve done the work and I’ve done the training, and I’m in the shape that I think it’s going to take to win a medal,” Hull said at the Australian athletics team’s camp in Montpellier, in the south of France.

“And then to actually physically go out and pull that out in a race. It’s like, wow, OK, we have a chance, but they are going be three very hard rounds [in Paris].”

In the 1500, Hull sat on Kipyegon’s shoulder from the start just to see how long she could hang on. She surprised both of them with how long she lasted.

“It was a bit of a free swing. I was like if I blow up I blow up. And I surprised myself how far I got,” Hull said.

“There are things I would do differently, and maybe be able to go a bit further next time. I think it was cool to have that opportunity to just be like, ‘I’m going to see how far I can go with her.’ She’s been [at] the top of the event for so long now … so I was like, OK, I can probably try, and if I blow up, I pull up, but ... it was a good opportunity to see how far I could go.

“I clipped her stride right on the 1000-metre mark, and I think she looked back and was like, ‘Is someone with me?’

“I think that surprised her a little bit, and then again down the back straight she had another look as she started to pull away ... I was hanging on for my life, and I felt like at any point she could flick the switch and run away from me. So she has still got that absolute upper hand, but it was cool to kind of surprise her a little bit.”

Hull said the race helped her believe anything was possible. Kipyegon is running the 1500m-5000m double in Paris, and with the 5000m first, it could affect her 1500m performance.

The field in Paris will be different. The always-strong Ethiopian runners did not compete at recent events, but will be in the mix in Paris.

“It’s not going to be as simple as Paris, where I kind of just got to see how far I could go with Faith,” Hull said. “It’s going to be tactical and fast at the front end.

“If you don’t race like you have a chance, then what’s the point? I have had the best prep I could have, I’ve had some really great races over the last few weeks. So I’m at the best I can be, and if that’s enough, then that would be a good day.”

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