Albion Park’s Jessica Hull eyeing Tokyo Olympics after successful World Championships – Illawarra Mercury

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After moving away from the Illawarra as an 18-year-old, Jessica Hull has plied her trade in relative anonymity throughout the past four years. During that time, however, she has emerged as one of the most talented middle-distance runners in the country. Attending the University of Oregon, Hull made the first steps in the transition from a junior star to an elite open’s athlete in an illustrious college career. Those results saw Hull earn an invitation to join the famed Nike Oregon Project, the elite middle-distance squad that has churned out Olympic and World Championships medalists throughout the past decade. Working alongside the likes of World Championships bronze medalist Konstanze Klosterhalfen and American 800 metres star Donavan Brazier, under the guidance of Pete Julian, Hull saw her running only continue to improve. After setting a blistering personal best in a 5000m race in September, the 23-year-old arrived in Doha for the World Championships eager to test herself against the sport’s best. Hull did not disappoint, the Albion Park product comfortably progressing through to the semi-final, where she producing another outstanding performance. Racing in the fastest semi-final in World Championships history, Hull eclipsed her previous personal best by almost a second and missed out on the final by just one place. Read more: Emerging NRL stars superb as Junior Kangaroos blitz France While disappointed to miss the final, Hull was overall thrilled with her performance at her first World Championships. “I was really blown away with Doha, I met my goal for the start of the year,” Hull said. “I definitely had a bit of a higher goal, I wanted to make the final. So I’m coming home hungrier and ready to work hard so that I’m on the start line for that final next year. “To come away with a PR, it solidified that the training block worked and it’s a good spot to start for the new year and build on.” With the World Championships Hull’s first major international competition, she is hoping to use it as a launching pad for next year’s Tokyo Olympics. Having missed out on a place in the final in Doha by just one position and learnt a number of lessons about the nature of championship racing, Hull is determined to ensure she lines up in the final in Tokyo next August. “Initially it was like a stab missing out on the final by that one spot. But now everything I do from here on out, I started back training on Saturday after two weeks off, it makes everything purposeful now. “My intention for everything I do now is to be in the best position to get on the final start line in Tokyo. “Racing at World Championships is so different to anything collegiately or in Australia. You can feel in the pack the anxiety of everyone because they’re all trying to advance. I’m so grateful I had that experience this year before Tokyo, because I think I definitely got better at managing that.” Hull’s time in Doha was not without controversy, with the runner finding herself caught up in an international doping scandal when Nike Oregon Project founder Alberto Salazar was suspended from the sport for four years midway through the competition. While Salazar coached some of the world’s biggest middle and long distance stars, including Mo Farah, Galen Rupp and Sifan Hassan, Hull’s squad was kept somewhat separate from Salazar’s. The fallout from the suspension has been swift, with Nike opting to shut down the Oregon Project soon after the World Championships. Julian and his squad will remain under the Nike umbrella, however, with Hull to continue training out of their Oregon base. “It wasn’t a distraction at all,” Hull said. “We knew a verdict was coming, we just didn’t know what it was going to be. At the end of the day, since I’ve been there, we’ve always been very separate. “All my conversations and all my workouts came from Pete, my trust was in him. As long as I had Pete and that wasn’t changing, it was okay for me. “For the next 12 months we’re just going to be a regular Nike group. In that time period we’re going to rebrand, we’ll have a new name and a new logo that will be ready for 2021. “The next World Championships are in Eugene, two hours south of our base, so I think the lead in to 2021 will see some really exciting things with the new group. “For now we’ll represent the swoosh and still wear it with pride, like we did with the Nike Oregon Project symbol, it will be Pete and the seven of us and maybe a couple of new faces along the way.” With certainty surrounding her squad Hull is looking forward to spending the next nine months building towards the Olympics. She does, however, have a bigger long-term goal in mind. At 23 years of age, Hull is a relative youngster in the sport of middle-distance running. By the time she arrives at the Paris Olympics, however, a 27-year-old Hull will be in her prime. While she wants to perform well in Tokyo, 2024 is where she feels she has the best chance of claiming an Olympic medal and she’s working hard with Julian to ensure she is well-placed to achieve that goal. “I’m looking long-term with my coach, he’s looking at 2024 with me. When we started talking beyond Doha, he said Im going to want to do a lot more than he’s going to let me do next year because he’s looking at 2024. “It’s a long-term commitment and I think if I can get through four or five years fit and healthy and just keep building, I’d like to think I’ll be in contention to be in those top one, two or three in 2024.” While you’re with us the Illawarra Mercury is offering sport readers 20% off an annual digital subscription. Sign up to stay up to date with all the local sports you love for only $3.00 a week. Terms and conditions apply.

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