Australian 1500m runner Linden Hall will continue to battle on through injury at the Olympics after pulling off “what seemed impossible just over a week ago”.
The 33-year-old had high hopes entering Paris alongside in-form teammate Jess Hull and young gun Georgia Griffith, but she suffered a major setback when she tore a calf with only a fortnight until her first race.
It left her participation under serious threat but she went all guns blazing to recover as best she could, and remarkably made it to the start line on Tuesday.
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Hall, who finished sixth in the final in Tokyo three years ago, escaped some early push-and-shove to run at the front for the first 800m and ensure the pace was on her terms.
This second heat was up to three seconds slower than the first through the first three laps.
“Linden’s making a long run for home and I think that’s a smart move,” Tamsyn Manou said on Nine.
“She wants to make sure she stays out of the trouble but she also wants to see if she can draw some of the sting out of some of the other athletes — make them a little bit more fatigued and if they’re going to want to beat her they’re going to have to work really hard.”
Hall picked up the pace but so did her rivals as she fell back into the worst possible position heading into the final bend — seventh, when the top six automatically qualify for the semi-finals.
She dropped back one more spot to finish eighth in 4:03.89, with the repechage on the horizon for a last-ditch chance at reaching the semi-finals.
It was only then that Manou, who had hoped Hall would have the energy for a late push, revealed she was aware of Hall’s injury.
“Wonderful effort by Linden Hall,” the Commonwealth Games gold medallist said in commentary.
“She came in with a slight calf tear so she’s missed a little bit of that training that you need to finish off that race.
“And she was fantastic of mind, ran the right tactics and just didn’t have the legs at the back end due to that injury.”
Hall later confirmed she would fight on with the calf problem to line up in the repechage on Wednesday (8.45pm AEST).
“So much love to everyone who helped pull off what seemed impossible just over a week ago,” she wrote.
“We go again tomorrow morning.”
If she can finish in the top three of her repechage, Hall will have about 30 hours to recover before the semi-finals.
The news that she ran in spite of the injury was praised by the Australian athletics community.
“Tough as they come,” track-and-field outlet Straight At It wrote.
One fan replied: “How can you run with a torn calf muscle.”
Another said: “WOW you are a champion.”
One more wrote: “I currently have a torn calf and cannot imagine. What a tough runner.”
Hall stepped up for her heat minutes after Griffith reached the semis when she finished fourth in 3:59.22 in the quick first qualifier.
Hull also then progressed with a 4:02.70 second-place result in the third and last heat.
