2 weeks ago
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Tokyo: On Tuesday night Jess Hull won a bronze medal. On Thursday night she was tripped, got her leg cut open by another runner’s spikes and fell to the track bleeding but finished the race last.
On Friday night, allowed to race the semi-final after a protest was upheld over the trip, Hull, with a bandaged leg, broke the national record and became the first Australian to make an 800-metre final at a world championship.
Jess Hull (right) was all smiles after her record-breaking run. America’s Sage Hurta-Klecker (left) finished fourth.Credit: AP
That’s quite the week, and it’s not over. On Saturday night she runs the 800m final. Judging by her week, anything could happen.
“I mean, a bronze medal, a record, [falling over]... I’m not one to be dramatic, but this championships has been quite dramatic by my own standards,” she said.
Her run of 1:57.15 not only broke young teammate Claudia Hollingsworth’s national record by 0.52s, she eliminated Hollingsworth from the final. Hollingsworth had run fourth in her semi in a time of 1:59.50 and was relying on other results to all her way to make the final.
And it’s not even her serious event. The Olympic 1500-metre silver medallist from Paris who added a 1500m bronze medal here in Tokyo this week just runs 800s for fun, and because she’s here.
“I think that’s dangerous in a way, like I don’t have any pressure or any expectation on me in this event, and I just get to kind of run pretty free, and that’s that’s quite dangerous when you’re out there amongst the women that are expected to do things and expected to run fast and well, so yeah, I just, I get to enjoy it, and I’m running free and having fun,” Hull said.
“Tonight, I just thought, I’ll make the most of it … I mean, I’ve got a second chance, but I’ve also had three rounds of the 1500s in my legs, so to come out tonight and run a pass and run a PB and earn my place in the final, I’m really excited. You’re essentially doing this for a bit of fun.”
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Still, she could not have expected the turnaround from the moment she was spiked and hit the ground on Thursday night.
“I’m fine. It’s just a bit of a very superficial wound that bled a lot, and looked a lot worse than it was,” she said.
Javelin thrower Dr Mackenzie Little, meanwhile, did three nights in emergency at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, was on call for another night, and then did a Sunday night shift. Then she took off her stethoscope and boarded a plane for Tokyo.
A model of efficiency, she arrived in Tokyo, threw the javelin 65.54 metres, straight over the 65m automatic qualifying mark, and more than three metres further than her best throw all year, and qualified for Saturday night’s finals.
Mackenzie Little in action in Japan.Credit: AP
There is a thing about asking a busy person if you want to get something done. Little is a busy person, and she gets things done.
“Dragging myself to training after a long day’s work – I don’t want to say that I want it to be worth it, but I just want to enjoy this.
“I threw that throw, and it was light, easy, fantastic and it just felt so good.
“I turned around, looked at my coach, and it was like, ‘Thank you’. We’ve had to work really hard, and it’s kind of coming together.”
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