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Jessica HullAustralian track and field athlete
Date of Birth: 22.10.1996
Country:  Australia |
Content:
- Huli's Athletic Background
- College Years
- Professional Career
- Olympic Debut and Mixed Relay Bronze
- Breaking Records and Setting New Bests
- Personal Life
Huli's Athletic Background
Early Life and Junior RepresentationHuli grew up in Albion Park and began running in primary school cross country and athletics carnivals at age eight. She also played soccer until she was 14. Her training was initially led by her father, Simon, who was a national-level middle-distance runner. In 2012, she won the under-17 1500 meters at the Australian Athletics Championships. At age 17, she made her international debut at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon, placing seventh in the 3000 meters with a personal best of 9:08.85. She won the 1500 meters at the 2015 Australian Junior Championships and placed third in the 800 meters.
College Years
After graduating from high school, Huli moved to the United States to attend the University of Oregon, where she earned a degree in human physiology. As a student-athlete, she represented the Oregon Ducks track and field team. She was coached for three years by Moira Powell and in her senior year by Helen Lehman-Winters. In 2018, Huli was the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships bronze medalist in the 3000 meters. Over the next two years, she earned six All-American honors on the indoor and outdoor track and in cross country, including four collegiate titles. She became the NCAA individual champion in the 1500 meters in 2018 and the 3000 meters indoors in 2019.
Professional Career
In July 2019, Huli signed with Nike and joined the now-defunct Nike Oregon Project. In her international senior championship debut at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, she narrowly missed the final in the 1500 meters. Her personal best of 4:01.80 was the fastest non-qualifying time for the final at either the World Championships or the Olympics. In January 2020, she set the Oceania indoor 1500-meter record at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston, winning the event in 4:04.14. Later that year, she broke the 18-year-old Australian national record in the 5000 meters at the Diamond League meeting in Monaco, placing fourth with a time of 14:43.80.
Olympic Debut and Mixed Relay Bronze
At the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in August 2021, Huli reached the final of the 1500 meters, doing so with an Oceania record time of 3:58.81 and finishing fourth in her semi-final. Two days later, she placed 11th in the final with a time of 4:02.63. In February 2023, at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships held in Australia, Huli competed in the mixed relay with teammates Oliver Hoare, Stewart McSweyn, and Abbey Caldwell. She ran the lead leg, and Australia ultimately finished with the bronze medal.
Breaking Records and Setting New Bests
In July 2023, Huli ran a 4:15.34 mile, taking nearly three seconds off the Australian and Oceania women's mile records and securing the eighth-fastest time ever run in a women's mile. On July 7, 2024, Huli improved her own Oceania record in the 1500 meters to 3:50.83 at the Meeting de Paris, moving up to fifth in the all-time list. On July 12, 2024, at the Herculis Meeting in Monaco, Huli competed in the 2000 meters, running 5:19.70, breaking the previous world record held by Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi, who had run it in 5:21.56 in 2021.
