Olympic hopeful Jessica Hull smashes Australian 1500m record in Oregon

Australian middle-distance stars Jessica Hull and Oliver Hoare stamped their credentials as Paris Olympics medal contenders on a record-breaking day at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon.

Kenyan runner Beatrice Chebet produced the standout performance of the meet, smashing the women’s 10,000m world record by nearly seven seconds, while reigning world champion Josh Kerr took down the great Jakob Ingebrigtsen to win a stacked Bowerman Mile.

Hull also rewrote the record books on Saturday (Sunday AEST), reclaiming the Australian 1500m mark by finishing second to Ethiopian Diribe Welteji in three minutes 55.97 seconds. The 27-year-old has already locked in her spot on the Olympic team.

“It’s a great confidence booster for Paris,” she said. “I was so consistent last year at 3:57 and that got me seventh in Budapest (at last year’s world championships).

“If I look at the landscape of the sport and look at the times that I would need to medal, I need to be consistent at that mid-to-low 3:50s. So getting a 3:55 on the board today gives me confidence and I think we will find a little bit more throughout the season.”

Among the runners left in Hull’s wake were third-placed American Elle St Pierre and Britain’s Laura Muir, the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist. Australian Linden Hall – whose national record was broken by Hull – was 12th in 4:01.97.

In the lead-up to the Diamond League meet, Commonwealth 1500m champion Hoare said the field for the Bowerman Mile was stronger than that for an Olympic final and the race lived up the billing.

Olympic champ Ingebrigtsen shaped as the man to beat, but Kerr was the strongest over the final 600 metres as he won in 3:45.34, bettering Steve Cram’s 39-year-old British mile record in the process.

Hoare held on for ninth spot in 3:49.11, which made him the fourth Australian to go under the Olympic qualifying standard for the metric mile.

Teen star Cameron Myers – who was 11th in Eugene – national record holder Adam Spencer and Stewart McSweyn also have Olympic qualifiers and Jesse Hunt is well capable of doing the same. But only three of them will be on the start-line in Paris.

National record holder Catriona Bisset did her chances of grabbing the sole remaining Australian Olympic vacancy in the women’s 800m no harm by finishing sixth in 1:58.44. British star Keeley Hodgkinson powered home to take the win in 1:55.78.

Kenyan Chebet cruised to victory in the women’s 10,000m in 28:54.14, smashing the previous world mark of 29:01.03 set by Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey three years ago.

A world silver and bronze medallist in the 5000m, the win qualified Chebet to compete in the 10,000m at the Paris Olympics. Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay was second in 29:05.92 and Kenyan Lilian Kasait Rengeruk took third in 29:26.89.

Chebet rarely competes in the 10,000m, having not run in the event since 2020.

“For Paris, I’m going to double. But my target is to run 5000 first, then 10,000 comes second,” she said. “Because this is my first 10,000 outside the country to run, and I’m so happy to run a world record.”

US sprint stars Christian Coleman (9.95) and Sha’Carri Richardson (10.83) won the 100m races in Eugene.