There’s a quiet determination to Linden Hall. The kind that doesn’t shout, but simply shows up. On the start line and in the weight of her body of work.
Three Olympic Games. Sub-two minutes over 800m. Sub-four minutes over 1500m. And now, at the age of 33, sub-15 minutes over 5000m. 14:43.61 to be exact, to rise to number two on the Australian all-time list and hit the qualifying standard for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
Her effort in Los Angeles last week was just another line in a career that refuses to settle.
Some may see her step up in distance as a reinvention or a response to rising depth, but in truth, it’s exploration born of fire and of a 2024 season left unresolved.
After the heartbreak of running injured in Paris, Hall is not chasing redemption. She’s chasing possibility.
“I’d definitely like to say that I’ve added the 5k as an additional event rather than transitioning to it. I’m still very much a 1500m girly, but I guess running a five started back in December as a bit of a project,” Hall said.
“I was definitely motivated by wanting to do something different. Coming off an Olympic year, sometimes that can be a hard year and so it was about getting ahead of that and giving myself a different focus.”
It worked. Now holding qualifying times in both the 1500m and 5000m, Hall has given herself range, and some room to breathe.
“It just sort of means I can line up in my 1500m taking that pressure off a little bit. There’s a fallback plan, and because of that I think I’ll actually run a better 1500m.”
Pressure, of course, is part of the package when you’re part of what many are calling the golden era of Australian middle-distance running. Hall isn’t just part of it, she helped shape it.
In 2021, she became the first Australian woman to break the four-minute barrier in the 1500m – a race she still recalls as a career highlight to date. And now, she’s one of many world-class athletes lining up for selection
“I feel like you can’t even do any interview these days without being asked about the depth of the Aussie middle distance girls, which is pretty cool. Everyone is noticing and everyone is talking about it,” she said.
“But it definitely means you want to be on your game a little more than you probably needed to five or six years ago. It’s hard not to have it on the back of your mind when you’re lining up against these girls.”
But possibility often comes from pause. And for Hall, the momentum she’s found this season came only after everything stopped.
Last year, just weeks after running a career-best 1500m, Hall’s season came crashing down, straining her calf at Olympic staging camp in Montpellier.
“Honestly, this year, the disappointment of Paris… it’s like the anger and frustrations of Paris is giving me a fair bit fire,” she said.
“Last year was a weird year to reflect on because yes, I ran my fastest 1500m, but then three weeks later, I got hurt so I had this real high and then it kind of all just came crashing down.”
“There’s no way I wanted to let that be my last team or my last year running or anything like that.
So she returned to training with a renewed sense of focus and freshness alongside her coach, Ned Brophy-Williams.
“We’ve just hit the fifth year of working together and I haven’t done the same session twice, which is pretty wild. We’ve got such a good relationship that he throws new ideas at me and I’m more than happy to give it a crack because I know that it’s all well thought out and there’s good rationale behind it.”
As for what’s next, Hall’s gaze still rests most firmly on the 1500m.
“There’s only so many spots on the team for Tokyo and there’s so many girls with qualifiers that realistically we’re probably all going to only take one spot rather than running in two, but who knows where we think we’ll end up come September.”
While her plan for Tokyo may still be murky, what is clear is that Hall isn’t finished.
“There are athletes right across the board competing for longer and longer. It’s sort of something we have historically been fixated on but I think maybe we’re redefining what being in your prime actually means. I’m surprised that I have still been running PBs, but I’m pretty happy to roll with it.”
By Sascha Ryner, Australian Athletics
Posted: 30/5/2025
