Rose Davies makes history in Australian 5,000m one-two at Commonwealth Games
Davies adds gold to her 10,000m triumph at Glasgow Games
Compatriot Jessica Hull comes in second to claim silver
In the fading Glasgow light, the two fluorescent yellow figures powered around the final bend of the 5,000m at the Commonwealth Games, leaving the rest of the field behind.
Megan Keith, the young Scot who had broken the field apart with a mile to go, could not keep up. Behind her was Kenya’s last hope of making it six 5,000m women’s golds in a row, Caroline Nyaga, as well as Ugandan Esther Chebet and England’s Hannah Nuttall. All of them, now irrelevant.
Australian Rose Davies had stayed within this leading group for the entire race, before surging past Keith with 200m to go. History was in her grasp: a woman had never done the 10,000m-5,000m double at the Commonwealth Games.
The 26-year-old had company, however. A stride behind was Jessica Hull, the formidable Olympic and world champion medallist in the 1,500m who also became the first Australian woman to qualify for a World Championships 800m final last year. The imposing figure is the pioneer in Australia’s track resurgence in recent years, proving domestic prominence can turn into global medals.
Hull has spent the past two years building her focus beyond the 800m and 1,500m towards the 5,000m, as she hopes to extend her career to Brisbane 2032. Her race in Glasgow had unfolded perfectly to plan, as an untroubled passenger in the train led by Davies that had just pulled out of its final station.
And so there they were. Two Australians and daylight. Two Novocastrians, striding down the straight.
“I knew I might have been in trouble leading with Jess on my shoulder with 150 metres to go. She’s so fast, and I just thought, give it everything,” Davies told Channel Seven.
Just 12 days ago, in the final lap of the 3,000m at the prestigious London Diamond League meet, Hull’s surge arrived at exactly this moment, leaving Davies languishing in second place in a prophetic Australian one-two. That memory of London was in Davies’ mind, as her countrywoman pulled alongside with 100m to go.
For Hull, equally, this was not easy. “It was very tricky racing a countrywoman with 150 to go,” she said. “It’s pretty special to have another Aussie out there with me, but to be battling home for the gold against an Aussie was a bit of a mind flip.”
The 29-year-old had already run a heat in her preferred distance of the mile earlier in the day. In this longer race format, she is still finding her way. “Closing out a 5k is a different beast and I think I found myself quite tactically raw out there,” she said.
“I didn’t really know what to do a lot, I was looking for dad [her coach, Simon Hull] in the crowd. I was like, ‘Do I stay here? Do I move up? So with three laps to go when Rose went around I was like, ‘OK, Rose knows what to do here so just follow her’.”
With 70m to go, Hull dragged herself up alongside Davies, and the lead looked hers. But she could never break her teammate, who lifted in turn.
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Davies found another level, and suddenly, the closing gap was now opening again. The double was on. “I just gave it everything,” Davies said. “I was running as hard as I could and I just wanted it so bad.”
Fifty metres. Thirty metres. Then 10 metres. By then a full stride ahead. Davies realised and threw her arms out to the side as if she was an aeroplane. Like a child might do, soaring around an imaginary sky.
Davies was once a child prodigy, Australia’s best in her age group by age 14. But her development was not linear, and she would not set another personal best for five years. Her teenage years were spent as a part-time runner as she battled inflammation issues in her hip. As an adult with a more forgiving body, she rediscovered her passion for the sport thanks to the patient encouragement of her coach Scott Westcott.
It was to him, watching at home on television, that her mind turned in the immediate aftermath. “He’s worked so hard with me in the past, I don’t know, 10 years or so,” she said. “I’m just so happy that he can celebrate this win, too.”
One of Australia’s steady improvers in recent years, Davies is now one of the country’s greats, her achievements cemented by this unforgettable evening. The last time two Australians finished first and second on the Commonwealth Games track was in 1974 when Raelene Boyle beat Denise Robertson over 200m.
This one-two delivered the enduring image of these games, Davies crossing the line first in wonderment. And Hull just behind, her grimace turning to a smile.