Hull the standout Australian at Diamond League in US

Yahoo

a day ago

Australian Jessica Hull has hung tough at her favourite hunting ground to finish a gutsy third in the women's 1500m at the Diamond League meet in Eugene as peerless Kenyan Faith Kipyegon smashed her own world record.
Once the pacemaker dropped out shortly after the halfway point, Paris Olympics silver medallist Hull was the only runner to go with Kigyegon, who has won the last three Olympic 1500m golds.
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The Kenyan powered home in the final 200 metres to stop the clock at three minutes 48.68 seconds, bettering her previous world mark of 3:49.04.
Kenyan Faith Kipyegon has set another world record. (AP PHOTO)
Hull, 28, was third in 3:52.67 at the Hayward Field track where she first made her name as a collegiate star for the University of Oregon.
"To get the position right off the line was super nice, and then I just tried to stay relaxed," said Hull.
"Then I felt Faith, she put her foot down and made it really hard for that last 500 metres.
"This was the fastest 1500m I've been in all year, so it was definitely tough in that last 400, but I'm okay with that being tough at this point of the season.
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"It was really important to get a really fast one under my belt and build from here."
Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet from Kenya also broke a world mark on Saturday (Sunday AEST), becoming the first woman to break the 14-minute barrier in the 5000m with a sizzling run of 13:58.06.
Chebet looked in shock when she saw the time, adding to her world 10,000m record set in Eugene last year.
Flying Dutchman Niels Laros caused a major boilover in the storied Bowerman Mile, passing American Yared Nuguse in the shadow of the line.
Nuguse went out hard as he chased the world record but eventually had to settle for second in 3:45.95, one hundredth of a second behind Laros.
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Australian teen sensation Cam Myers was a commendable sixth in a stacked field in 3:47.50 - just two hundredths of a second outside the national record he shares with Olli Hoare.
Olympic silver medallist Kishane Thompson from Jamaica saluted in a high-quality men's 100m in 9.85.
"I'm the only one that can stop me," Thompson said. "I don't say that to brag, but to be honest, once I better my execution, amazing things are going to happen."
Lachlan Kennedy was eighth in 10.07.
Lachlan Kennedy has returned to action at the Diamond League meet in Oregon. (Richard Wainwright/AAP PHOTOS)
It was the first competitive outing for the 21-year-old Kennedy since he became just the second Australian to legally break the 10-second barrier with a flying time of 9.98 last month in Kenya.
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American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden stormed home to win the women's 100m in 10.75, relegating Olympic champ Julien Alfred from St Lucia to second spot in 10.77.
Paris Olympics gold medallist Letsile Tebogo from Botswana, who kicked off his 2025 campaign at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne in March, won the men's 200m in impressive style in 19.76.