Jessica Hull wins 5000m final after ugly drama, takes swipe at rival's 'wider circle'

Grazed, bruised and nursing whiplash, Jessica Hull kicked late to win the Australian 5000-metre title on Sunday afternoon — and some stinging words followed.

Hull's campaign at the national athletics championships was rocked by a brutal fall in the 1500m final on Friday night as well as an ugly appeals fight that did not fall in her favour.

The Olympic silver medallist was so battered after crashing face-first into the track in a chaotic sprint finish to the 1500m final that she didn't show up for the 800m on Saturday.

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But after going for a 20-minute jog on Sunday morning and deciding along with her dad and coach, Simon, that she was OK to line up in the 5000m final, she put herself on the start line at Sydney Olympic Park and came out on top.

Hull won a slow, tactical affair in 15:13.21, ahead of the second-placed Linden Hall (15:15.33) and third-placed Maudie Skyring (15:18.27).

Only Hall was still with Hull with a lap to go. With 100m to go, no one was with her, and she powered down the home straight to the roars and cheers of thousands.

"It means a lot," Hull told reporters.

"I think the whole experience of it is special. From the moment I was in the call room there were kids waving at the call room to see if I was going to go and race, and that just makes you realise it's so much bigger than you and it's everything for them

"... I'm glad I had the shields on [glasses] because on the first lap when they were just going berserk for me I was tearing up. I was like, 'Get it together'."

Claudia Hollingsworth was disqualified as champion of the 1500m after clipping Hull on the home straight and sending her tumbling, but the Hollingsworth camp appealed and their challenge was successful.

A day after Hollingsworth said there was no "bad blood" from her side, Hull said she was harbouring no ill feelings towards Hollingsworth — but she did take a swipe at her young rival's support team.

"It wasn't surprising, honestly," she said of the disqualification being overturned.

"They were fighting pretty hard for it and I think that's quite telling to character sometimes, but it is what it is.

"I honestly don't care about the national title; I've got 10 of them myself.

"If that's what you want to do to win one, go ahead.

"But yeah, it's not to any fault of any athlete — it's a bigger, wider circle that sometimes gets involved."

Hull also said: "I think a lot of us would acknowledge it's a DQ anywhere else in the world, but it isn't here ... You just want a fair race. If you get beat fair and square you can live with that."

Hollingsworth walked over to Hull after winning the 1500m and they hugged. Hollingsworth also apologised for clipping Hull and with a graceful smile she accepted it.

"I think you guys saw us put it to bed about 10 seconds post the finish line," Hull chuckled.

"... She apologised then and there and that's all I could ask for. She owned it and you move on."

In the 800m final on Sunday afternoon, Hollingsworth was outkicked by Abbey Caldwell.

"You never like to see any athlete go down, but it was a fair race," Hollingsworth said after her 800m heat on Saturday night.

"Obviously [I] felt bad for what happened and I hope she's OK.

"I think we all raced fairly and it was just a battle in the race.

"There's no bad blood from my end and I'm sure there's not from her. We respect each other a lot and I definitely am willing to reach out, for sure, and make sure she's OK. We're both mature athletes and we both want the best for each other.

"So I'm really hoping to see her at the next meet, whenever that is, and race really well against each other again."

Hull said she had whiplash and a "jarred" neck and admitted the fall "scared" her, but the 29-year-old from Albion Park found a silver living.

"I don't have a ton of motion through here," she said, placing her hands around her neck.

"But that's OK. It's probably the best-case scenario. At the end of the day, moments like that can be career-ending if it's the wrong muscle or the wrong bone, and I'm pretty lucky to come off pretty unscathed."

Hull scorches reports of a rift

The champion runner didn't only have scathing words for Hollingsworth's "wider circle" — she also torched News Corp reports that are continuing to circulate about a rift between Australian Athletics (AA) and the Hull camp.

"I really don't know where that's come from, and from my camp and I, I'd really like to shut it down because I am so supported by Athletics Australia and I have been my whole career," Hull said.

"When someone's trying to create a fracture that doesn't exist it's kind of hard."

She was shocked to go on her phone on the way back from the world indoor championships in Poland last month and see what had surfaced in News Corp publications.

"I landed in Shanghai and I was like, 'What the heck is this?'" Hull said.

"And I got straight on the phone to Andrew Faichney [AA's high-performance boss] and he was like, 'Nah, Jess, it's nothing from our side. What about you guys?' And I'm like, 'No'.

"So it's a bit stunning."

The Hull camp and AA have both rubbished the reports, publicly and privately.