Australia has a new contender for Olympic gold after the star did the unthinkable in a race that shocked the athletics world

• Jessica Hull is the fifth fastest 1500m runner in history
• Australian star is a contender for the Olympic title
• Hull breaks national record at Paris Diamond League

Australian runner Jessica Hull broke her Oceania 1,500 metres record with a stunning performance to establish herself as a contender for the Olympic title.

Hull broke her own record at the Diamond League meeting at Charlety Stadium on Sunday but was no match for Kenyan great Faith Kipyegon, who set a new best of three minutes 49.04 seconds.

Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh also broke the world high jump record in a remarkable competition, providing both a pre-Olympic warning and inspiration to her Australian rivals Nicola Olyslagers and Eleanor Patterson.

The two records were broken within an hour of each other, with double Olympic champion Kipyegon improving her own mark by 0.07 seconds after world champion Mahuchikh eclipsed one of the oldest women’s marks by clearing 2.10 metres in the high jump.

At the metric mile, Hull was able to celebrate his second place in 3:50.83, remarkably eclipsing his own Australian and Oceanian mark of 3:55.97 by more than five seconds to move into fifth place on the world all-time list.

“It’s crazy to see my name in fifth position! The goal of my training this year is to put myself in a position to win a medal in Paris,” said the 27-year-old.

“That goal doesn’t change, I just have to stay healthy and do it on the day that matters – August 10th.

“I was a little kid with an Olympic dream and I grew up wanting to go to the Olympics. I didn’t think 3:55 would ever be possible, so to think about going under 3:50 now is insane.”

Kipyegon kicked the bell to open up a gap on Hull, pulling away to improve on the world record she set last year in Florence.

Hull finished second in the first-ever race that saw 12 women finish in under four minutes, including compatriot Linden Hall in fourth with a best time of 3:56.40.

Mahuchikh had previously exceeded by one centimetre the 2.09m jumped by Bulgarian Stefka Kostadinova at the world championships in Rome in 1987, 37 years ago.

World indoor champion Olyslagers, impressive after a month out due to injury, challenged the Ukrainian, both clearing 2.01m on the second attempt.

But the 27-year-old from New South Wales failed three times at 2.03m, while Mahuchikh succeeded at the second attempt to win the competition.

She then cleared 2.07m to set a Ukrainian record, raised the bar to 2.10m to set a world record and did it on the first try.

“I have finally written Ukraine into the history of world athletics,” said Mahuchikh, 22.

“My coach told me that maybe I should stop because I have the Olympics coming up – and of course that’s more important – but I felt deep down that I could do it and, to be honest, I wanted to try to break the world record.”

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tweeted: “Thank you, Yaroslava, for raising the Ukrainian flag so high and achieving this victory for our country and our people.

“Each of these victories is incredibly important to our strength and unity.”

Patterson, the 2022 world champion, could only finish fifth with a jump of 1.95m.

“It’s not just Yaroslava’s victory, it’s the history of women’s high jump, that is, all of us. Once you see someone do it once, it opens the door,” Olyslagers said.

“She’s an incredible competitor and friend, and seeing her do that gave me the key to aim.”

Australia’s Stewie McSweyn had a promising performance in the 3000m, finishing second to Kenya’s Jacob Krop in 7:28.83.

Pole vault hopeful Kurtis Marschall cleared 5.75m to place sixth in a competition won, inevitably, by Armand Duplantis.