Jessica Hull has fired a timely Commonwealth Games warning shot, winning the 3000m at the London Diamond League in 8:24.69 with a devastating 60.1 second final lap.
Hull ran a patient race, biding her time in the pack before striking with 200 metres remaining: a move none of her rivals could answer.
“It was a very competitive field and I really wanted to win today,” Hull said. “I have tried really hard to win here over the last few years, so getting the chance to come into the race as one of the favourites and then to go on and win is very special.
“I am focusing my energy into winning races, so to start well here, it puts me in a good position for the Commonwealth Games.”
Jess Hull
The result made it an Australian one-two, with Rose Davies storming home for second in a personal best of 8:25.38 after committing earlier to following a breakaway.
“I wanted to come out here and put my best performance on the board, so I feel like I did that,” Davies said. “I had a very loose plan to hold on and try and beat as many people as possible. No one really went with the pace, so it was slower than I expected, so when Megan made a run for it, I had to chase and give it everything I had left.
“I am in really good shape heading into the Commonwealths over 10,000 and 5000m. The legs will be a bit sore after today, but I am really looking forward to racing in Glasgow.”
Hull will contest the mile and 5000m in Glasgow, while Davies lines up in the 5000m and 10,000m. Fellow 5000m runner Linden Hall was 6th in 8:27.16, just ahead of Georgia Griffith (8:27.94), while 10000m representative Lauren Ryan was 19th in 8:41.85.
There was further Australian success in the high jump, where Nicola Olyslagers went toe-to-toe with world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh, clearing a season’s best 2.01m, and Eleanor Patterson claimed third with 1.96m.
“The girls are in such good shape, so when I have come into this season a little bit later, they have really pushed me to get over two metres,” Olyslagers said.
“I am trialling out some new things in my jumping techniques such as starting higher, and adding different steps in. I can be a bit afraid. I look to God for him to build me with courage. It’s a big stadium, it is scary. I got the high jump early, and then the rest of the competition was easy.”
Kurtis Marschall continued his stellar season with third in the pole vault, clearing 5.95m, the same height as Olympic champion Mondo Duplantis, with the pair separated only on countback.
Duplantis had to settle for second as American Sam Kendricks took victory, handing the Swedish world record holder just his second defeat of the season.
Australia’s 4x100m quartets finished second to Great Britain: 38.00 to 37.85 in the men’s, and 43.08 to 42.06 in the women’s. However, in the Commonwealth Games the Brits compete as England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Peter Bol was 6th in the 800m in 1:43.60, with the performance being the second fastest of the 32-year-old’s career. Sarah Billings was fourth in the women’s 800m in a solid 1:58.16, having run through the field from being last at the bell in 58.1 seconds.
The Para-athletics action was led by Sam Carter in the wheelchair 1500m (3:59.61) who finished second to Swiss wheelchair racing legend Marcel Hug, with Samuel Rizzo third in 3:00.20.
Earlier in the day, Rhiannon Clarke was sixth in the 100m in a time of 13.04 (+0.7).
The highlight of the meet was a world record in the mile by Josh Kerr, who ran 3:42.66 to surpass Hicham El Guerrouj’s 1999 mark.
