Medal fancy Hull advances to 1500m semis at Olympics

Jessica Hull says she’s perfectly placed to end Australia’s sweep dozen years on the Olympic athletics track.

Hull has cruised through her 1500m heat in Paris on Tuesday morning to secure a semi-berth in two days’ time.

The 27-year-old is thriving under expectation of snaring Australia’s first Olympic track medal since Sally Pearson’s famous 100m hurdles gold at the 2012 London Games.

“I have to trust my prep, I can’t fault it at all,” Hull said after clocking four minutes 02.70 seconds in her heat.

“I have been healthy. I have hit every workout, I’m really fit, I have got great races behind me.

“That makes me confident. I couldn’t be in a better position coming in.

“So now it’s just time to unlock that.”

Hull’s compatriot Georgia Griffith (3:59.22) also advanced to Thursday’s semis but teammate Linden Hall (4:03.89) missed out.

Hull enters Paris after a stunning past month – she set a 2000m world record in the non-Olympic event at the Monaco Diamond League meet on July 12, five days after setting a fresh Australian 1500m benchmark in Eugene.

The Wollongong-born wonder, who finished 11th in the 1500m final in Tokyo three years ago at a crowd-less stadium, revealed in her first race at the 81,000-capacity Stade de France.

“It was crazy… I have never raced in a full Olympic Stadium like that, so it was pretty cool,” Hull said.

“Standing on the start, I was just telling myself to think about my position and don’t think about everything going on around me.”

Hull steered well clear of trouble.

“A lot of people will say I’ve probably run too wide for a prelim,” she said.

“But I would rather be out there and be relaxed than being on the rail and looking for exit routes… I went on feel and I felt great.

“In previous years this is the most nerve-wracking round whereas in a way there wasn’t nerves today, it was like anticipation.

“I was just ready to start and get into these like next five days… I’m in the thickness of it and ready to go.”

Also Tuesday morning, Brooke Buschkuehl’s best long jump of 6.31 meters wasn’t enough to book a berth in the final.

Australia’s Cameron McEntyre’s top javelin throw of 81.18m failed to move him into the final.

Tayleb Willis clocked 13.67 seconds in the men’s 110m hurdles repechage and didn’t reach the semi-finals and Ellie Beer failed to advance from the women’s 400m repechage, finishing in 51.65.

Calab Law didn’t start in the men’s 200m repechage, preferring to focus on the 4x100m relay.