Australian track star Jessica Hull has powered her way into the 1500m Olympic final after another brilliant effort in Paris.
Hull finished a comfortable second in the hot race and clocked her second fastest time ever (three minutes 55.40 seconds), despite taking her foot off the pedal in the final stages.
Ahead of Hull was Ethiopian runner Diribe Welteji.
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Hull, 27, looms as a huge medal chance and Tamsyn Manou-Lewis said on the commentary it was an “exciting” performance and the Aussie looked like “one of the best” out there.
“She’s got another gear. If she wanted to take this win, she takes this win,” Manou-Lewis said on Nine.
Commentator Gerard Whateley said: “This feels like the Bart Cummings preparation. It’s timed to the minute.”
After the race, Hull spilled on some of her tactics., and also how she had spotted Welteji speaking to fellow Ethiopian runner Gudaf Tsegay in the call room before they headed out to the track.
Hull revealed she had watched them and knew they were up to something.
“Keep it simple, stay out of trouble,” Hull said of her pre-race mindset.
“Gudaf and Diribe were talking to each other in the call room so I thought they’re just going to get this going.
“I could just tell from the way they were chatting. It’s simple.
“I race these women a lot and customarily if the Ethiopians are talking to each other in the call room in their own language, they’re probably going to do something together out there and I just figured Gudaf was telling Diribe to go and do certain things so it made it pretty simple for me.”
Hull has declared she can win the gold medal in what is shaping to be a 1500m “mega-final”.
And on the basis of what happened in the semi-final on Thursday it seems a perfectly fair call to make.
Hull looked supremely comfortable running in the top three throughout.
If Hull is to become the first Australian since Herb Elliott in 1960 to win Olympic 1500m gold, she will have to find a way past legendary Kenyan Faith Kipyegon, who won the other semi.
“I do (believe I can win the gold),” Hull said.
“It’s the greatest time for the 1500 ever, we’re saying 3:56 just to make the final from that heat so that’s insane.
“It’s a privilege to be in the position where people are talkiing about me as a medal contender, let alone a gold medal contender.
“Faith is not going to go down without an absolute fight, the Ethiopians are ready as well, so it’s going to be a mega-final on Saturday night.”
Hull has taken giant strides forward in the last 12 months.
She was seventh in last year’s world championships final and later acknowledged she didn’t have the pace to go with the likes of Kipyegon when the heat was really on.
That’s no longer a problem, as evidenced by Hull’s blistering run of 3:50.83 at last month’s Paris Diamond League meet which lifted her to fifth spot onthe all-time list.
“Physically it feels incredible,” she said.
“Emotionally I’m just so much more mature.
“When I see those splits I’m like ‘I’ve been here before’ and I literally have.
“I’ve done things that a lot of these women haven’t done, so that’s a power to me when I’m out there.”
Fellow Australian Georgia Griffith ran near the front for much of the other semi before running out of gas in the last 50 metres and fading to ninth.
Earlier on Thursday, both of Australia’s 4x100m relay teams came up just short in their bids to qualify for the finals.
The women’s lineup of Ella Connolly, Bree Masters, Kirstie Edwards and Torrie Lewis clocked 42.75 seconds, significantly slower than the flying national record time of 42.48 they ran at the London Diamond League meet in late July
Crucially, the squad anchored by Australian individual 100m record holder Lewis finished outside the top three automatic qualifiers in fourth place and the second heat was faster.
The Australian men’s 4x100m squad overcame the absence through injury of national 100m champ Sebastian Sultana to lower the national record in the men’s heats.
Their time of 38.12 would have been enough to win the second of the two heats, but unfortunately they were drawn in the much quicker first one where they finished sixth.
– With AAP
