Hull ‘robbed’ at national champs as rival disqualified after 1,500m clash

Source : ABC NEWS

The post-race scene looked like you would expect — Jess Hull with her characteristic beaming smile, posing for selfies with fans and signing autographs.

Except she hadn’t won her fourth straight national 1,500 metres title as was widely expected.

Instead, a few minutes earlier while leading on the home straight, she was sent crashing down after being clipped from behind by her main rival, Claudia Hollingsworth.

It put an early end to Hull’s unprecedented bid to win three titles at the Australian Athletics Championships in Sydney, having entered her pet event, the 1,500m, alongside the 800m and 5,000m.

The crowd was audibly shocked, her competitors stunned too, but she soldiered on, hugging Hollingsworth, indulging the fans, and even agreeing to speak to the media.

The Olympic silver medallist sat back for the early stages of the race and she said the pace played a part in the incident.

“When it’s that slow, things happen. You can blame yourself a bit because I let it go as slow as they did,” Hull said after the winning time ended up as 4:17.36, about 27 seconds slower than Hull’s personal best.

“I’ve worked on my speed so incredibly well and I was really confident in it, so I don’t have to go out and lead these races around.

“But when it’s that slow, it’s a bit of a joke.”

Hull sensed Hollingsworth trying to overtake her on the inside and closed the gap, and she was brought down when her younger rival then swerved to go around the outside.

“I felt like I had just hit my last gear, I got tapped,” Hull said.

“I went to close the rail because I thought I was away … when you’re going that fast, the slightest bump, you just hit the track.”

Her coach and father Simon Hull was not as calm as his daughter. He was animated as he spoke to her afterwards within earshot of the gathered media, claiming she was “robbed”.

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Hull and Abbey Caldwell both lodged protests, which were initially dismissed by the referee.

But after seeing more footage from the host broadcaster Channel Seven, the decision was made to disqualify Hollingsworth, and Sarah Billings was elevated to first place.

Hollingsworth has appealed and her case will be heard today.

Speaking immediately after the race, the 20-year-old tried to make sense of what happened.

“[It’s] not how I wanted to win. I feel like I’m a pretty fair racer, so it’s disappointing to see that happen,” she said.

“It was all an accident, obviously, but we’re all competitive out there and just want to do our best and win, especially for the national title.

“Jess knew I was coming and I know no-one’s ever going to let someone in, and I should have been smarter and maybe gone around the outside.

“But if you see a sniff and a bit of a gap, you go for it, and it probably closed quicker than I thought, and she’s a really clever racer.

“She’s experienced and I respect her so much and it’s unfortunate that happened.”

The result adds extra tension to the 800m where Hull and Hollingsworth will again go head to head, with the heats today and the final tomorrow.

Magnificent Myers in league of his own

The women’s race overshadowed Cameron Myers’s impressive victory in the men’s event.

The 19-year-old was comfortable for the entire race, and steamed home to win by a big margin from 2022 Commonwealth Games champion Olli Hoare.

Myers’s time of 3:29:85 was just 0.44 shy of Stewart McSweyn’s national record.

“To do this in front of a home crowd, and the way I did it, is awesome,” Myers said.

“It took me a while this year to get going, but I’ve got going now and hopefully this shows I will be a real contender in the European season.”

Earlier, Lachlan Kennedy ran the fastest-ever 100 metre time by an Australian on home soil, clocking 9.96 seconds in his heat.