Australian star holds on for dramatic world champs bronze behind Kenyan legend

Tokyo: The bell rang and Jess Hull sensed movement at her right shoulder and twigged to what was going on.

Hull was on the inside, sitting behind Kenya’s freakish star Faith Kipyegon. She was in prime position to just sit on her tail as she did when she won silver at the Paris Olympics last year and let Kipyegon tow her to a medal.

Suddenly, Hull realised that wasn’t going to happen – because at the bell for the final lap, the race had clearly come down to a race in four, and Hull was the only one of those four not from Kenya. She realised as Nelly Chepchirchir loomed up on her side that a team plan was in place to block Hull in and safeguard a full podium of Kenyan medals.

Hull reacted quickly, delivered an elbow to Chepchirchir’s shoulder that would draw an appreciative nod from Toby Greene. And stepped outside in front of Chepchirchir. That was not a golden elbow but a very fine bronze one at least – helping deliver Hull a medal and deny the Kenyan trifecta.

“I didn’t quite realise that that [team approach to block Hull in on the rails] was in play until Nelly tried to come in on me. And I knew what she was doing. So I was like ‘Oh, you think you can sweep the podium ... you’re trying to stop me and let those get away.’

“So I had to get the elbow up a little bit and just hold my own there. But all credit to them … they nearly did sweep that podium, which would have been huge, like the women’s 1500 could have been Kenya, one, two, three.

“They gave themselves every chance, but I had to fight back. And everything happened for a reason.”

Hull was like a tourist who realises just in time they are about to be scammed in a street con and blows up.

After sitting one-two with Kipyegon for 1400 metres, Hull had to hang on down the home straight. Easier said than done.

Only weeks ago in a Diamond League race in Zurich, Hull was flying in the straight, only to bizarrely almost come to a complete stop near the line when she lost her legs.

On that day, Chepchirchir was the one to take the victory. This day, Hull hung on and was the one to deny Chepchirchir. Of course, there was no denying Kipyegon.

Hull crossed the line in 3:55.16, behind Kipyegon in 3:52.15 and Dorcus Ewoi in 3:54.92.

Just 12 months ago, Hull stunned the world, winning silver at the Olympics behind Kipyegon, and a year later it is bronze behind the middle-distance queen.

Like Kurtis Marschall a night earlier trying to compete with the world’s best-ever – Mondo Duplantis in the pole vault – the rest of the field was running for the lesser medals. Kipyegon has won the past three Olympic golds and now four world championships over the distance.

Her fourth world championship 1500m gold matches the great Hicham El Guerrouj, who also won four world 1500m golds. She will now go for a second world 5000m title in Tokyo.

Hull said she could sympathise with Marschall, finding her career coinciding with having to beat not only the best in the world at a world championships, but the best the world has ever seen.

“We haven’t had that conversation yet, but I will say that Kurt last night, he took the bit of pressure off me [by winning his bronze medal], but that’s an interesting conversation to have,” Hull said.

Peter Bol left heartbroken in Tokyo once again

For a second time, Tokyo has been unkind to Peter Bol.

Four years after he missed out on an Olympic medal by barely half a second, Bol has been knocked out of the world championships by about the same time.

This time, the crowds filled the stands and he was anything but an unknown, but the margins were just as thin and fate just as cruel.

Bol had looked good in his heat of the 800 metres in the stifling 30 degree humidity of Japan National Stadium, but was swamped at the line to finish fourth in his heat in 1:45.15.

He had looked so comfortable – until he didn’t. He’d told himself to be patient, and then he wasn’t. Bol knew he had one move to make, and he hurriedly made three. The impatience cost him a place in the semi-finals.

But the certainty of that fate could not be assured until the final heat had been run. In the heats, the first three runners go through and then the three fastest times. Until the final heat, Bol was still the third-fastest non-automatic qualifier, and still a chance to advance despite a poor run.

The final heat decided it – Bol was pushed out of the qualifications and joined countrymen Peyton Craig and Luke Boyes in missing the semis.

“It was probably the most stressful championships I had, just waiting out there,” said Bol.

“Obviously [it was] a disappointing race, but [I made] a little bit of [an] error. It’s a patient game, and whoever’s the most patient always kind of comes top three, and I just didn’t have enough patience out there.

“You’ve got to be patient, you’re in the 800 and you have one move, and I made three, so making too many moves, you just don’t win. You only have one move, and you got to go, and you got to come into absolute perfection, and I just misjudged it.”

The frustration for Bol is that he has had an outstanding year – he lowered the Australian record to 1:42.55 in Monaco in July this year only to run a disappointing race at the world championships.

“Obviously, there’s a bit of disappointment, not making it through to the semis, but also it was a pretty incredible season,” he said.

Bol, a father and veteran now, is rooming with teenager Gout Gout, who makes his major debut on Wednesday night (AEST).

“I try not to tell him anything, because it’s better if you just kind of view it and how we conduct ourselves,” Bol said.

“I was running with him, in Monaco, and I said, watch me, like, I’m staying calm, you [still] get nervous – it’s part of the game. You still go out there and compete, so he knows what to do.”

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