The Albion Park talent positioned herself second through the first 1100 metres of the race, ensuring she avoided the drama at the back.

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That came with 400 metres to run, current world champion Sifan Hassan going down after a fall in the middle of a congested pack.

The Dutch star was quickly back on her feet and able to reel in the leaders to cruise to a comfortable heat victory.

Hull was close behind in second in a time of 4:05.28, five seconds outside her personal best and she was pleased to safely navigate the first round in her Olympics debut.

"I just wanted to have a good clean run, I know how messy the 1500 can be," Hull told Channel 7. "My coach said I'm prepared for any scenario, my race-plan doesn't change whether it's fast or slow.

"I went out there knowing exactly how to execute and I'm lucky that kept me out of the chop."

Hull will be joined in Wednesday night's semi-final by Australian teammate Linden Hall, the pair looking to book a place in Friday's final.

Hassan has the potential to be the star of the track in Tokyo, the former refugee attempting to become the first person to complete the 1500m-5000m-10,000m treble.

She has little time to recover from the 1500m heat, with the 5000m final on Monday night.

Hull had also qualified for the longer distance, but after discussions with coach Pete Julian, ultimately decided to focus on the 1500m race.

"You want to do one and do it well," Hull said. "For me at this point in my career, the 1500 was where I'm most confident. I've raced it the most times, I know how to navigate the tactics.

"Pretty brutal conditions for a 5km here, so choosing the 1500 when my coach decided a couple of weeks ago, I was all in."

An Albion Park product, Hull has spent much of the past few years based in the United States.

The 24-year-old spent four years at the University of Oregon before opting to remain in Portland on a professional Nike contract.

After spending most of 2020 at home due to coronavirus, Hull returned to the US at the start of this year.

There she has completed a pair of altitude camps in Utah, while she also trained through the American summer.

Hull acknowledges that heat is quite different to Tokyo's high humidity, but she's confident the weather won't play a role in the semi-final.

"When I raced in the college system our nationals were at Austin, Texas one year. I kind of had a good feel from that of how to keep cool in the warm-up, that was more important.

"A hot track is a fast track for 1500 runners, we love the heat."