The 24-year-old will leave Japan with her head held high, having set an Australian record in the semi-final to qualify for Friday night's final.

Her chances of claiming a medal were hampered when Dutch star Sifan Hassan took control of the pace early in the contest.

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That made the going hot from the outset, Hassan, Kenya's Faith Kipyegon and Laura Muir ensuring only three runners had any chance of winning the race.

The trio were the favourites heading into the contest and they were the three who battled it out for the medals through the final 400m.

In the final 100m it was Kipyegon who streaked away from her rivals, with Muir second and Hassan third.

Hull said the plan was to hang with the leaders for as long as possible and while she couldn't go with them for the full 1500m, she remained proud of her effort.

"I wanted to be aggressive, I don't have any regrets," Hull told Channel 7. "I was aggressive until I had no legs left and that was the plan with Pete (coach Pete Julian).

"I'm 24, what have we got to lose and my old college coach texted me today and said 'those with nothing to lose can be the most brave'.

"I think I was pretty brave for about a km and I seen the split and I was feeling it. Hopefully I get to come back in three years time."

Very few Australian men or women have run in the final of the 1500m event at the Olympics, with Hull and teammate Linden Hall just the third and fourth women to reach the medal race.

On the male side of the equation, Ryan Gregson broke a decades-long drought when he lined up in the final in Rio and Hull said it was a result that has inspired her to climb to the same heights.

"I've come a long way since Albion Park Little A's. Watching Ryan Gregson run on this stage, we might've both finished around the same place in the Olympic final.

"Seeing a boy from Albion Park who I used to watch on a Friday night do it, it showed me I could. I definitely owe a lot to him for the inspiration and to share it with Linden is pretty special."

The result puts an end to Hassan's quest to complete an unprecedented 1500m-5000m-10,000m treble. She won the 5000m and has the 10,000m to come on Saturday night.

In winning gold in a time of 3:53.11, Kipyegon set an Olympic Record. In contrast, the Kenyan won the Rio final in a time of 4:08.92.

Hull fought hard, but she was unable to remain in contact with the leaders in the second half of the race.

The Illawarra talent spent much of her energy in Wednesday's semi-final to progress to the medal race and ultimately finished 11^th in a time of 4:02.63.

Australian teammate Linden Hall worked home well to place sixth in a personal best time and the second fastest in Australian history, behind Hull's time on Wednesday night.