Olympic and world championships medallist Jessica Hull continued to amaze on the world stage tonight at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo breaking the Oceania record and becoming the first Australian to qualify for the Women’s 800m final at the meet, while global medallists Mackenzie Little and Ky Robinson advanced through the qualification to set up a finals frenzy.
In her first 800m at a major championships, middle-distance sensation Jessica Hull (NSW, Simon Hull) has set a new Area Record en route to qualifying for the final. Galvanising for the semi-final following a fall to the ground in the first round, Hull, with a bandage on her leg, finished her race third in 1:57.15, qualifying as the fastest non-automatic qualifier for the final.
Admitting her training is not geared towards the 800m, Hull began slow but by the 300m mark, she had caught up to the pack and bid her time to make her move. Crossing the line third and with a big smile on her face, she also became the first Australian woman to hold the 1500m and 800m Australian records concurrently.
“A bronze medal (in the 1500m), a record, and everything yesterday. I’m not one to be dramatic, but this championships has been quite dramatic by my own standards,” Hull said.
“Tonight, I thought I’d just make the most of it. I knew I had a PB in me, but I also had a second chance. I’ve also had three rounds of the 1500m in my legs, so to come out tonight, run a PB and earn my place in the final. I’m really excited.”
Hull’s run broke Claudia Hollingsworth’s (VIC, Craig Mottram) national record by 0.52-seconds and with mixed emotions, the Olympic medallist knocked the 20-year-old out of contention of the final.
Hollingsworth finished fourth in her semi-final in 1:59.50 and was in the ‘hot seat’ waiting on all heats to be run to find out if she would advance, while the third Australian to reach the semi-finals, Abbey Caldwell (VIC, Gavin Burren) finished fifth in her heat in 1:58.44, with all but one athlete racing under the two-minute barrier as Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson took line honours in 1:57.53.
Australia will have representation at yet another global javelin final, with Royal North Shore Hospital’s Dr Mackenzie Little (NSW, Angus McEntyre) sailing through with ease, with a one-and-done automatic qualifying throw of 65.64m.
Her third best throw of her career and season’s best, Little recorded the second furthest throw across two pools of athletes vying for a finals berth behind Adriana Vilagos (SRB, 66.06m) as she looks to channel the energy she had saved that scored her bronze at the 2023 edition of the championships in Budapest.
The first and last attempt throw of the qualification round puts the high performing professional in good stead to add to her medal collection, with the distance surpassing the 63.93m throw that won South Africa’s Jo-Ane van Dyk the silver at the Olympic Games last year.
“Kurtis (Marschall, pole vault) got another bronze this time around, and we both had bronze in 2023 so it kind of feels a little bit familiar,” Little said.
“I think if you think too hard about what throws achieve what, you get a little bit frustrated but that was just really fun and I want to do it again. I’m in good shape and I’m going straight to the ice bath, cool down and just get ready to rip tomorrow. I like the feeling of winning a Worlds medal, I know what that’s like and I could do that again.”
Little’s training partner, Liana Davidson (NSW, Angus McEntyre), threw in the second qualifying group. The 21-year-old at her maiden world championships, performed well and improved with each attempt but was unable to reproduce early-season form, with 57.44 metres ranking her 23rd of the 36 competitors.
World Indoor medallist Ky Robinson (QLD, Dathan Ritzenhein) ran a sensational 5000m heat to qualify for his first major championship final, when racing to fifth in 13:13.60 in Heat one. He becomes the first Australian finalist in the event since 2019, with only middle distance legend Craig Mottram running faster at the global meet in 13:12.93 in 2005.
“I don’t want to say that was easy but I was ready to go a little bit harder and thankfully we didn’t need to, because the top eight had kind of separated themselves. It shows that no matter how a race has been run, I can have confidence in my ability to run in it, whether it’s slow with a huge kick at the end, or if its another midspeed one with a kick down, I know I can be there.”
Debutant and Australian 5000m champion Seth O’Donnell (VIC, Andrew Russell) ran a strong race and was sitting close to Robinson for the first three kilometres and in the mix for a qualifying position until a big change of pace with four laps to run. He finished 18th in 13:34.52.
In the second of the two heats, Jack Rayner (VIC, Nic Bideau) was looking comfortable mid-pack with the slow pace but when the pace came he was near the back of the big pack and wasn’t able to respond. Rayner finished 16th in 13:49.46 in the tactical race, with only eight athletes progressing to the final from each heat.
Heptathletes Camryn Newton-Smith (QLD, Ralph Newton) and Tori West (QLD, Eric Brown and Sam Leslie) are neck-and-neck after the first day of competition. After completing the 100m Hurdles, High Jump, Shot Put and 200m all in the evening session, Newton-Smith is in 18th place on 3,566 points and West is just seven points behind in 19th.
Despite a disappointing miss in the high jump when she had been jumping well, Newton-Smith was feeling good at the end of the gruelling session.
“I’m gaining experience competing with these girls who are so amazing. I’m enjoying it, I’m on the world stage and I actually love being here. Hurdles were good and the Shot was good, and the atmosphere in the stadium when the finals started was just insane,” Newton-Smith said.
West, who threw a season best in the Shot Put (13.21m) and then ran 24.36s in the 200m, was positive with her achievements.
“Honestly everything is positive I had a fantastic day today. I came in with no expectations considering the season that I have had and I wasn’t expecting to be here. I’ve overperformed in a few events, like Shot Put. When I saw Jess Hull break the Australian Record I got a big lift.
“Generally, when I have momentum going into day 2, I perform really well and the 200 was strong and I’ve got good speed, so I’m excited by what I can do.”
The World Athletics Championships continue through to September 21, with Australian viewers able to watch live and free on two networks: SBS and Nine.
By Sascha Ryner and Andrew Reid, Australian Athletics
Posted: 20/9/2025
