Albion Park's Jessica Hull promised admits she was unsure of how high her fitness levels was after being in COVID isolation, but it would not stop her from qualifying for the Commonwealth Games 1500m final.
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Hull was fourth in her heat in 4:16.13 after sitting among the leader throughout in her heat in Birmingham on Friday night.
She will be one of three Australians in the final after Linden Hall and Abbey Caldwell also qualified in the other heat.
Hull has twice completed record-breaking runs in 2022. Last month, she became the fastest Australian women over a mile, finishing in 4:19.89, which came on the back of her breaking the Australian women's indoor mile record in February, clocking 4:24.06.
She then warmed up for the Commonwealth Games with a strong performance at the recent world championships. In a very competitive field for the 1500m final, the 25-year-old finished seventh in 4:01.82, which was an improvement on her 11th placing at the Tokyo Olympics last year.
However, the Commonwealth Games appearance came after Hull went into mandatory five-day isolation period at her home in Portland in the US after testing positive for COVID-19 after the world championships.
"My lungs are getting there with every lap that I get on the track," Hull told Channel Seven.
"So (my) legs feel magic, because they're so rested, but the lungs and heart are catching up.
"I was able to go back to (her US residence in) Portland and just be in my room and then go ourside for a walk, Portland was dead quiet, because everyone was down in Eugene (at the world titles) training.
"I was able to keep outside and it helped me recover."
Uganda's Winnie Nanyondo surged late in a close finish to take out the heat.
Now the focus turns to pushing for a medal on Monday morning (AEST).
In the other heat, Caldwell finished second behind Northern Ireland's Clara McGeean, who won in 4:13.52.
Hall, who was sixth in the Tokyo Olympics finals, sat behind in fifth but still qualified for the final.
"That was awesome watching these girls go around before me," Hull said.
"They never looked in doubt, so that's the most exciting thing.
"Prelims are always a little stressful, because if it's slower, you bring everyone into the race and it seems like no-one wanted to do any work today.
"In different circumstance, I would have been the front runner, but I didn't know where my fitness was at, or where my limits were."
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Tim Barrow
When it comes to sport - at professional and community level - in the Illawarra, I'm here to provide insight, context and opinion, as well as the latest news you won't find anywhere else.
When it comes to sport - at professional and community level - in the Illawarra, I'm here to provide insight, context and opinion, as well as the latest news you won't find anywhere else.
