{"id":237628,"date":"2026-04-09T15:00:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T15:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/09\/gout-and-kennedy-renew-rivalry-hull-eyes-history-as-australian-athletics-puts-its-best-on-show\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T15:00:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T15:00:53","slug":"gout-and-kennedy-renew-rivalry-hull-eyes-history-as-australian-athletics-puts-its-best-on-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/09\/gout-and-kennedy-renew-rivalry-hull-eyes-history-as-australian-athletics-puts-its-best-on-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Gout and Kennedy renew rivalry, Hull eyes history as Australian athletics puts its best on show"},"content":{"rendered":"

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An array of exotic, well-trimmed dogs will parade around Sydney Olympic Park this weekend as part of the Royal Easter Show. The zoomies, however, will be across the road.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s best athletes led by sprinter Gout Gout<\/a> will dash around the newly laid blue track at the Athletic Centre, while others fly over bars or into sand.<\/p>\n

The immediate goal is a national title and selection for this year\u2019s Commonwealth Games or World Junior Championships teams. But this meet arrives at a time when the sport is building towards Los Angeles 2028 and on towards Brisbane 2032, and a new crop of athletes is out to prove their era has arrived.<\/p>\n

History beckons for Hull<\/h2>\n

Jessica Hull, an Olympic 1500m medallist, raised eyebrows when she also raced the 800m at the World Championships in Japan last year. Alongside a bronze in the 1500m, her gutsy run to the 800m final \u2013 which included a new national record performance \u2013 only cemented her status as Australia\u2019s track queen.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Jessica Hull and Claudia Hollingsworth will clash in the 800m and 1500m at the 2026 Australian Athletics Championships.<\/span> Photograph: George Chan\/AAP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This year, those same eyebrows hit the roof when Hull declared she would chase the 800m-1500m-5000m triple this weekend. The idea started as what she thought was an off-season joke with her coach and father Simon<\/a>, but a week later it became a plan. \u201cI asked Dad if he was serious, and he was like, \u2018Yeah, if you want to do it, let\u2019s try it, it\u2019s the year to do those kinds of things\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hull holds the national records in the two shorter distances, and is the defending champion at both 1500m and 5000m. But with fierce competition in each race \u2013 including 20-year-old standout Claudia Hollingsworth in both the 800m and 1500m<\/a>, and national record-holder Rose Davies in the 5000m \u2013 the queen will be tested.<\/p>\n

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How much exactly? 33 minutes. The 5000m will be run around half an hour after the 800m final on Sunday. No Australian woman has won national titles in all three events at the same meet. Indeed, none has won all three events over their entire careers. Hull needs only the 800m to complete the first set.<\/p>\n