Jessica Hull was so meticulous with her preparation for the Olympic women’s 1500m final that she wouldn’t even allow her mum or brother into her “bubble”.
Australia’s newest athletics legend was taking no chances in the leadup to “the race of her life”, as described by Gerard Whateley on Nine in the final 100 metres of the race.
That meant not even letting family see her so as to avoid the risk of illness.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today
Hull, who is coached by her dad, Simon, said she kept her inner-circle ultra-tight.
“I’ve seen my dad and my husband a fair bit but I haven’t seen my mum and my brother at all,” she told Nine after Sunday morning’s race (AEST).
“(We wanted to) keep that bubble really small, didn’t want to pick up any illness.”
Hull’s mum said Simon was behind the decision.
“We haven’t been allowed to see her this week because my husband thought we’d make her sick,” she told Nine.
Hull crossed the line second behind the greatest 1500 metre runner of all time, Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, in a time of 3:52.56, bettering the previous Olympic record.
The 27-year-old built strongly this year leading into Paris and made good on her promise with a strong last 600m that left her in a state of utter disbelief.
Hull is the first Australian woman to win a medal in the 1500m and the first overall since Herb Elliott won in 1960, with John Landy (bronze, 1956) and Edwin Flack (gold, 1896) the only others to finish on the podium.
She said it was “really cool” to be able to reunite with her family over the fence after the race.
Kipyegon’s final-lap kick was too strong for her longtime rival Hull, but the Aussie still had plenty of fight left in her.
“I looked up with 200 (metres) to go and they actually had our race on the back-straight scoreboard, which the distance runners had been wishing would happen all championships,” Hull said after the race.
“And I saw there were four of us there and I was like, ‘I’m not going home empty-handed’.
“Then coming into the straight I had another glimpse and I was like, ‘Ah, there’s still four of us’, and I was like, ‘Just run through the line’. I saw Faith pulling away from us but knew the closer I was to her, the closer I was to a medal.
“It’s the best feeling.”
Hull’s grip on the silver medal looked safe for most of the last 100 metres, until an extremely late charge from Great Britain’s Georgia Bell very nearly spoiled the party.
The Australian star took her foot off the gas in the very final strides of the race and extended her arms out to celebrate, not realising how close Bell was.
She said the celebration wasn’t planned, but got a fright when her right arm struck the bronze medallist on the finish line.
“I probably should’ve leaned in a bit more at the finish,” she admitted.
And while Hull was locked away from seeing family during her meticulous preparations, she was still in close contact.
Speaking after the race, she revealed an emotional message her mum sent on the morning of.
“Mum sent a photo of me at state little aths, I was probably 12, she said do it for this little girl tonight,” Hull said.
“That was all I needed to hear from her, it brought me to tears a little bit. I’m glad she sent it early on in the day so I could just have that moment and recalibrate again.
“We can do this. I hope that I’m the first of many middle-distance stars to come. It’s a pretty damn special feeling. I think I took the longest victory lap in the world and I won the silver medal!
“I couldn’t imagine gold feeling any better than this, silver feels pretty damn good.”
Hull’s silver was Australia’s seventh track and field medal in Paris, the second-best haul in Olympic history behind only the 12 won on home soil at Melbourne 1956.
She joked that she had now “completed the set” with long-time friends Nina Kennedy (pole vault gold medallist) and Matt Denny (discus bronze).
The trio have risen through the ranks together after representing Australia at the junior world championships
“That’s just a fairytale, isn’t it. There’s so many parts about this championship that just felt right and this was one of them,” Hull said.