Path to Paris: Jessica Hull

The road to sporting glory often leads through ups and downs. Along the way, there are key milestones that every athlete passes.

In the latest instalment of a new series where athletes reflect on five key steps on their path to the Paris Olympic Games, Australian runner Jessica Hull – who recently set an Oceanian 1500m record in Paris and a world 2000m record in Monaco – recounts the journey that has got her to this point in her career.

 

I fell into distance running and realised I was good at it…

…In Australia, at least in New South Wales where I went to school, you have to do the school cross country carnival from the third grade. I jumped in at year two and at that point you are grouped with the third graders. I was able to win the school carnival and it was really fun. I got into the thrill of trying to be a little bit better as I went through.

I joined Albion Park Little Athletics club, where you would go on a Friday night and do a sprint, a jump, a throw and a distance race. I tried everything; I did the shot put, the high jump, the long jump – not very well! But distance was my thing.

Distance running became something that I got to do with my dad, Simon. He was a runner and he has been a big influence on my career – he coached me as a junior and we have come back around full circle to him coaching me now. We never trained crazy when I was a kid, I did things very progressively. I would run a little bit in the mornings before school with my dad and I was not a morning person back then, but I would get up to do that! I gradually progressed and loved it, and I still think I love it more every day.

 

In Australia we have been exposed to some incredibly great athletes…

…I’m a little too young to remember Sydney 2000 but the legacy it left is insane. Every one of us can probably recite the Cathy Freeman 400m call from Bruce (McAvaney) off by heart! That was a pivotal moment. My youngest memory of the Olympics and how much it meant to someone – the magnitude of it – was watching Sally Pearson win gold in London. Watching her wait to find out if she won the gold – we were all waiting with her. That’s something that still gives me goosebumps to think back on.

From my event point, I went to the same Little Athletics club as Ryan Gregson and I remember when he broke the Australian 1500m record in Monaco in 2010. We were driving to state cross country the next morning and I was looking at the results on my mum’s phone. I knew Ryan, I’d followed his whole junior career and he was a link that was close to what I was doing, with the same club and the same event group. It kind of humanised it – that hey, we Australians can get among that too.

 

The 2014 World U20 Championships in Eugene was so special…

…It was such an introduction to what is possible on a global scale. It gave me the taste, like: ‘I really like doing this – I want to come back for more!’ That was a perfect segue to eventually signing on to run at the University of Oregon and I ran there for four years under Maurica Powell and Helen Lehman-Winters.

It was the perfect step in development at that point, to go to college and to develop there and work with those coaches that made me enjoy the process even more. I still have a fantastic relationship with Maurica now, I lean on her for a lot of things. She showed me that the sport is bigger than yourself and if you can really lean into that, it’s pretty powerful.

 

Getting sick for the final in Oregon 2022 made me even hungrier to go back in Budapest and get the result I knew I had worked for…

…Each championship builds on another. Doha (the 2019 World Championships) was my first senior championships and I think the best thing – up until this season – is I hadn’t really had that race that I was like: ‘I’m really satisfied’. I’d been hungry for more the whole way through.

In Doha I got to the semis, so logically the next goal is you want to make a final. I was lucky enough to do that in Tokyo in 2021. I made that final, but I probably wasn’t as prepared to be in that final as you’d want to be. So then Eugene and Budapest (the 2022 and 2023 World Championships) became about making the final and having an impact in the final. I finished in Budapest thinking: ‘I’m getting there, but I have a little way to go’ and I can see it’s coming – I just have to stay committed.

I feel that I have that experience now in my races. I now feel more ready than ever to try, and that probably led to Paris (her 3:50.83 Oceanian 1500m record at Meeting de Paris) where I thought: ‘I’m really ready and I’m just going to see what happens’.

 

Seeing what Faith has done has thrown the gauntlet out to all of us…

…In the moment (after her 3:50.83 1500m in Paris) I was absolutely stunned. I was like, ‘what have I done? I can’t believe this!’ But as I have reflected, I can see the steps that led to it. I have ticked all the boxes in training, I have trained hard and consistently, and I have been healthy for a long time. My last major injury was in 2020, so I have put four years of work together.

I’ve been able to train at a new level this year and my body is strong enough to handle that. And I think we have all just watched Faith Kipyegon do what Faith’s done the last few years. Like hey, if you want to be as good as Faith, this is what you have to do. She has certainly had a huge effect on our event group, and she has led by such an example that she has brought us all with her.

I remember in Florence last year, when she broke the world 1500m record for the first time – I was so excited for her and I hadn’t had a moment to have a one-on-one with her. Eventually she came back to the dining hall and before I could even congratulate her, she was congratulating me on the Australian record, which was so miniscule compared to what she had done! Having had her lead the way, encourage us all to come along with her and been so exemplary in what she has done, it has totally changed our event. Over the next 12 months our event is going to go to an absolutely insane level and it’s a pretty special time to be part of it.