Jessica Hull’s bid to become the first Australian woman to win national titles in the 800m, the 1500m and the 5000m is over after the Olympic silver medallist withdrew from the 800m due to soreness.
Hull was due to race in a heat of the 800m on Saturday night but informed officials she would not be racing after pulling up sore from a dramatic fall in the final stages of the 1500m final on Friday night.
The 29-year-old was leading the field with 60 metres to go when rival Claudia Hollingsworth attempted to move off the rail behind her and clipped Hull’s legs. The star middle distance athlete from Wollongong fell hard on the track, and Hollingsworth went on to win.
Hull’s coach and father Simon was fuming in the stands after the race, and a protest was lodged.
After being initially cleared, Hollingsworth was later disqualified after the race after judges viewed further footage supplied by broadcaster Channel Seven.
The 20-year-old Victorian successfully appealed and was re-instated by an independent panel as the 1500m national champion on Saturday.
“The panel found after viewing all the available footage and interviewing concerned parties Hollingsworth’s appeal was upheld,” an Athletics Australia statement said.
“A request for a re-run of the 1500m is not feasible at this championships, but the Australian Athletics High Performance Department and Selection Committees will review its status as a selection race.”
Amid reports Hull had withdrawn from the championships entirely, AA said it was still hoped she sould run in the 5000m on Sunday.
Hull had set herself the ambitious target of winning three events at this meet, after entering the 800m, 1500m and 5000m.
That fell over when she did on Friday, but Hull was still a strong chance of completing a career grand slam in the same trio of events, and only needed to win the 800m this year, to go with multiple titles in the 1500m and 5000m in previous years. No Australian woman has ever achieved the feat.
Hull’s selection in the 1500m for the Commonwealth Games team will have to wait. Hollingsworth’s win (and prior qualifying time) will likely see her among the group of automatic selections for the team named on Sunday afternoon.
Hull also has a qualifying time but will she have to wait for selectors to name the remaining athletes using discretionary picks at a later stage.
It is inconceivable that Hull would not get selected for a spot in the 1500m, given her world-class results in the last three years.
But selection in the 800m may not be as straight-forward after her withdrawal, should Hull be inclined to try and run the event in Glasgow. Hull made the world championship 800m final last year, and has recently moved away from doing the 1500m-5000m double.
Hull said during the week should be keen to try and run all three events at the Commonwealth Games but would likely have to pick “one or two”.
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Iain Payten is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.