Albion Park's Jessica Hull has made a statement in her first official race following the coronavirus shutdown, the athlete creating history at the Monaco Diamond League meet.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Racing in the 5000 metre event, the 23-year-old stopped the clock at 14:43.8 to break the Australian record by almost four seconds. Hull's old personal best was 15:00.32.
The previous national record was set by Benita Willis in 2002.
Hull finished the event in fifth place, just ahead of training partner Shannon Rowbury.
The result was one of a number of impressive performances as elite athletics competition returned from the sporting suspension, with Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei setting a new world record in the men's 5000m event.
Usually based in Oregon, USA, Hull has spent the past five months training in Wollongong. Speaking post race, she said it was those sessions that helped her push through the pain during the final two kilometres.
"This race was hard. I knew it was gonna hurt, but it's a pain I never knew before," Hull told reporters.
"I was so surprised because we got to six laps to go and I felt alright and then we came down with three to go and I was like 'oh my goodness' I'm never gonna finish.
"My teammate (Shannon Rowbury) was right there and while we haven't been able to train together because she was training in Portland while I was in Australia, we were training in parallel and I took confidence that if Shannon could do it, then I could do it and vice versa."
Subscribe to our newsletters
Cameron Mee
Sports reporter at the Canberra Times
Sports reporter at the Canberra Times
