Jess Hull galvanises Australia’s flourishing middle distance running stock | World Athletics Championships

Expectations around Australia’s women’s 800m runners were already high when Claudia Hollingsworth broke the national record last month in Poland. Remarkably, in the same race, her compatriot Abbey Caldwell also finished under the old mark, crossing the line just behind the 20-year-old.

Then the team for the World Athletics Championships was announced, and alongside that pairing was another name, Paris 1500m silver medallist Jess Hull. Australia’s track queen had decided to attempt the middle-distance double in Tokyo on the urging of her father and coach Simon, a former national level 800m runner.

If there had been anticipation about the Australian prospects in the event beforehand, Hull’s addition made it hyperventilation. “The 800 is something I’ve never really explored in my career,” Hull said in Tokyo. “It was my dad’s event, so I think he enjoys me trying to learn it a bit better, and he’s pretty confident that there’s a really big one in there.”

The insertion of Hull into the event has also galvanised her teammates. Hollingsworth described the 1,500m bronze medallist as “an inspiration”, especially her ability to continue to find new areas of improvement even as she enters the back half of her career.

And then there is the silverware. “I mean, getting a silver medal at the Olympics is super motivating for all of us athletes coming through,” Hollingsworth said. “It shows it’s possible, and that women’s Australian middle distance can be competitive with the rest of the world.”

That quality was evident on Thursday, when all three progressed to Friday night’s semi-finals. Hollingsworth strode home in a comfortable third. Caldwell was pushed all the way to the line, but her snappy fourth-placed time was also enough to get through.

Claudia Hollingsworth leads the field in her heat on Thursday night. Photograph: Christian Petersen/Getty Images

During the first lap of her race, Hull was literally pushed over. She crossed the line last, but a protest had her reinstated. She described a bleeding gash on the inside of her right calf afterwards as “pretty nasty” but said she is shape to run a PB. “That was a good introduction to running 800s with the best in the world.”

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The gash on Jess Hull’s leg. Photograph: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

After the excitement around Gout Gout and Torrie Lewis in the sprints subsided following their elimination on Thursday evening, the middle distance cohort have given reason for Australians to continue their new-found love affair with athletics. Gout’s semi-final attracted more than three million viewers, following similarly sensational numbers earlier this week, despite a later start time to the race.

Veteran Linden Hall, having missed out on the 1500m final by a place earlier in the week, ran well on Thursday alongside national record holder Rose Davies to progress to Saturday’s 5,000m final, the first time Australia has had two in the last 16 of the event at the world championships.

Achieving the same feat in the 800m – even if it will take a top-two finish or one of the two other quickest times in Friday’s semi-finals – is not out of the question, even if the competition is fierce.

Caldwell’s semi-final sees her run against Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson, the Paris gold medallist who World Athletics president and former 800m runner Sebastian Coe has predicted could end her career as one of the greatest athletes of all time, and has returned successfully in the past month after a long layoff.

Hull faces the Paris silver medallist Tsige Duguma from Ethiopia, one of five athletes in her semi-final with PBs under the Australian record. Hollingsworth is part of the first semi-final, featuring Kenyan Mary Moraa, who won the bronze in Paris but is the defending world championships gold medallist.

Hollingsworth – whose family will be watching on in Tokyo, including her twin sister Gemma even as the aspiring performer appears on The Voice this weekend on Australian TV screens – has emerged as one of the country’s brightest athletics prospects in recent years, and isn’t afraid to aim high.

“It’s always a bit scary putting out your goals because sometimes you feel like if you fall short, you’ve let people down or you’ve dropped short of people’s expectations. But I just decided, if I don’t say it out loud and I don’t believe in it, then it’s even harder for it to become realistic,” she said. “So I’m not going to shy away from the fact that I’d love to make the final.”