Hull and Hall advance to 1500m semi-final

Australia’s success on the track has continued at the Olympic Stadium, with Linden Hall and Jessica Hull automatically progressing to the semi-final of the women’s 1500m after placing among the top-six in their heats.

Hull is an Olympic debutant and in the second heat of the metric mile, she crossed a strong second to confirm her progression in a time of 4:05.28. She has

Experiencing the stadium for the first time, the University of Oregon alumni took a moment to take in the surrounds before shifting focus back to her preparation for the next round.

“The stadium is incredible. To get out there and finally get to see it was amazing. I was trying to not look up and around, but I took a moment at the top of the media zone to take it all in,” Hull said.

“The plan with my coach was to prepare for any style of race. My job was to execute whatever happened, whether it was fast, whether it was slow, and it was cool to take the moment and realise I was relaxed. It became about staying out of trouble.”

Hull is based in America and has relished the opportunity to chat regularly with her parents this week given the time zone benefits of Tokyo with Australia.

“I’ve had a lot of chats with Dad this week, remembering how good is this? I’m an Olympian and we wanted to make the nerves a positive experience,” Hull added.

Not to be outdone, Hall took to the start line in what was the fastest heat.

The first Australian woman to break four-minutes in the 1500m, Hall too was at the front for much of the race before storming up the straight to cross third in a time of 4:02.27.

“I’m glad it’s over more than anything. The first round is so stressful, going through the process the first time, you just go through the motions and it’s been a while since I’ve been out there with all the international girls. It’s exciting because you want to line up with the best,” Hall said.

“Step one done. I’m not getting too far ahead of myself. There are only 12 spots in the final and all the girls want to take them. To get an auto-qualification again would be fabulous.”

Hull and Hall were joined in the women’s 1500m by Georgia Griffith, who has battled a calf injury in recent weeks. Stopping the clock at 4:14.43, she will not progress to the next round. Griffith will know that with an injury free preparation she would have been right in the mix for a semi-final spot.

The Australia teammates, Hull and Hall have been drawn in different semi-finals in Wednesday night.

A good day for Riley

Olympic debutant Riley Day also ensured her start in the next round of the women’s 200m after running 22.94 (w: +0.9) to cross third in heat of the women’s 200m.

Day will now return to the track for the semi tonight, determined to give it her all and challenge the best in the world after running a personal best of 22.77 earlier this season.

“I didn’t know what to expect going in to today. I was so nervous. I knew if I executed my race properly, I would make the semi-final, and I’m going to give it a red-hot crack and see how I go,” Day said.

“It’s about going out there and seeing how fast I can run. I don’t want to focus on time, the more you do the less likely you’ll achieve it.”

Also in action on the track tonight is Steve Solomon in the semi-final of the 400m and Nina Kennedy and Elizaveta Parnova in the pole vault qualifying.

Cody Lynch

Hull, Hall and Day through to semi-finals