'Do it for this little girl': The simple reminder that pushed Jessica Hull to Olympic silver medal

Hours before the biggest race of her life, Jessica Hull was sent a heartwarming reminder of who the Australian star was competing for.

The message sent by her mother Michelle brought Hull to tears.

It was an image of herself aged about 12 competing at state little athletics, captioned: "Do it for this little girl tonight."

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"That's all I needed to hear from her," an emotional Hull told Nine.

"It was really simple. This little girl knew how to go out there and win a race so I just had to go out there and do that again.

"It brought me to tears a little bit but I'm glad she sent it early on in the day so I could just have that moment and then just recalibrate again. It was a big help.

"The little girl that used to watch in the lounge at home would be stoked. It is a good way to recentre."

The 27-year-old deliberately kept her distance from her family in the lead up to the Paris Games in an effort to avoid a repeat of her 2022 World Championships heartbreak.

Hull was forced to withdraw from the competition in the US state of Oregon through mandatory isolation procedures after she tested positive for COVID-19.

In Paris, she took no chances. It resulted in a massive embrace after the race.

"I have seen my dad and husband a fair bit but I haven't seen my mum and brother at all until this moment," she said.

"We keep your bubble really small and we don't want to pick up any sort of illness. [Post-race] was the first time I saw them since they arrived in Paris, which was really special."

Hull created her own slice of history as she snared silver in the 1500m, breaking Australia's 56-year medal drought in distance athletics, and became the first woman in the nation to medal in the event.

World record holder Faith Kipyegon of Kenya won her third successive gold with a time of 3:51.29, while Great Britain's Georgia Bell took bronze.

"A month ago I couldn't have anticipated the ride that I was going to go on. The Paris Diamond League, Monaco and now an Olympic silver medal," she said.

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"I am just so proud and I appreciate everyone's well-wishes and support, for getting up at 4:15 am on your Sunday. I hope it was worth it.

"I hope that I'm the first of many middle-distance stars to come. 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."

Following the Tokyo Olympics, Hull returned to Australia full-time and parted ways with Oregon-based coach Pete Julian.

The 27-year-old is now coached by her father Simon, who was formerly a national-level middle-distance runner.

"I don't think anyone knows me better in the world than him," Hull said of her father.

"He's always pushed me to do things, to not just stay in my comfort zone.

"He told me that I should try and go to college in the US and that was probably the best decision I made.

"I learned how to race, I learned how to put myself in positions like this and I learned how to win."