Ah, the glorious uncertainties of sport. One night Jess Hull is down and out, victim of a fall in her heat of the 800 metres. Twenty-four hours later, reinstated on appeal, she broke the Oceania record and will now run the final.
She’s something special (sorry Bruce, but I’m borrowing your favourite word. I’ll give it back, promise) is our Jess (she’s also fast becoming ‘ours’ in the manner of Freeman, Hooker, Kennedy, Clarke, Boyle, Landy, etc).
First, she was the one who decided to take Faith Kipyegon on. And we know how that went – all the way to an Olympic silver medal and a bronze medal here. And now she has justified the selectors’ faith in her ability to double by reaching the final of her ‘weaker’ event. She goes there, too, as Oceania record holder, her 1:57.15 taking the mark off Claudia Hollingsworth’s recent 1:57.67.
In her heat, Hull was brought down after running only 200 metres. In her semi, it was clear she had a great chance when she moved up to join Tsige Dguma and Audrey Werro at the bell. Where her lack of early speed might have been a problem, now her 1500 endurance kicked in as an asset. As Dguma gave way to Lilia Odira, Hull was not able to split up the leading two, but her 1:57.15 always looked good for one of the two non-automatic qualifying places in the final.
Now Jess Hull is there, write her off at your peril.
The same can be said for Pedro Pichardo, who won a second world title in the triple jump to add to his victory in Eugene in 2022. He was also the Olympic champion in the very same Japan National Stadium in 2021. That victory was met in silence; Pichardo may be one of the most entertaining and popular of competitors, but there were no spectators at Tokyo 2021.
Friday night he had a capacity crowd roaring with delight with a clutch last-jump victory. Having led from the second round with 17.55 metres (an effort he duplicated with his next jump), he could easily have been stunned – we were! – when Italy’s Andrea Dallavalla snatched the lead with a last round 17.64.
Pushed into a corner, Pichardo now produced one of his best efforts. He had passed his fifth jump – cannily saving energy for just such a possibility as rivals more fancied than Dallavalla failed to produce the big marks – and now he faced a simple equation: produce something bigger than 17.64 or be relegated to the silver medal.
Many athletes would succumb to over-striding in such circumstances but Pichardo is not your usual suspect. He sped down the runway and was conservative on the board. If he got anything on the takeoff board it was no more than a toe. But my how he soared through the three phases. He landed in the pit, clearly having achieved a winning distance. His 17.91 was just 17 centimetres short of his lifetime best 18.08. He’s an entertainer is Mr Pichardo.
In another Australian highlight on the night Mackenzie Little was one and done in the javelin qualifying. Her 65.54 was comfortably a season’s best and almost as comfortably beyond the auto qualifying distance of 62.50.
Femke Bol and Rai Benjamin won the 400 metres hurdles accolades while Noah Lyles and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden were the 200 gold medallists. Jefferson-Wooden won with surprising ease from Amy Hunt and defending champion Shericka Jackson to complete a sprint double.
Two days to go and, can you believe it folks, it’s actually cooling down. Not the competition, but it was the first night when you didn’t feel the need to carry a water bottle as part of your kit.