Rose Davies Out-Kicked Jessica Hull to Complete a Historic Commonwealth Distance Double

Rose Davies has done something no woman had managed in the long history of the Commonwealth Games. On the final laps at Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow, the 26-year-old Australian out-kicked her friend and training partner Jessica Hull down the home straight to win the 5,000m in 14:44.53, and in doing so completed a distance double, the 5,000m and the 10,000m at a single Games, that no woman had achieved before. Hull took silver in 14:45.01, less than half a second back, in an Australian one-two that neither runner quite seemed able to believe.

A Sprint Finish She “Blacked Out” For

For most of the race the noise belonged to Scotland’s Megan Keith, who pushed to the front and carried a roaring home crowd with her. Davies made her move with three laps left, closing the gap on Keith with Hull tucked onto her shoulder, and the three ran clear of the field. It came down to the last 150 meters. Keith faded, Davies surged around her, Hull went with her, and over the final 50 meters it was Davies, the genuine distance specialist of the two, who found the extra gear.

She admitted afterward that she barely remembers it. “Having Jess on your shoulder with 100m to go is scary, but I honestly just blacked out and was running as hard as I could,” Davies told reporters. “It was just pure grit in the end. I thought I might be in trouble with Hull sitting on my shoulder and just gave it everything I had.” Keith held on for bronze in 14:49.10, while a third Australian, Linden Hall, ran through a stomach illness to finish seventh.

A Double No Woman Had Done

Davies had already won the 10,000m earlier in the Games, so the 5,000m gave her both distance titles at one Commonwealth Games, a sweep no woman had completed before, at a single edition or even spread across separate Games. The middle- and long-distance events at these championships have drawn some of the sport’s biggest names over the decades, which is part of what makes the achievement land. Davies dropped to her knees at the line as it sank in.

“I can’t believe it. It means the world to me,” she said. “As a little girl you watch the Commonwealth Games and you see your idols on the screen and you want that to be you, and I just can’t believe that I’ve achieved that.” The two golds cap a breakthrough stretch for a runner who is quickly becoming one of Australia’s best over the 5,000m and 10,000m.

Two Newcastle Girls, One-Two

The result carried an extra layer for Davies because of who she beat. She and Hull both train on the same track in Newcastle, north of Sydney, and see each other week to week, which made a global one-two feel almost surreal. “To have two Newcastle girls gunning for the line at the Commonwealth Games, to come first and second, is insane and so good for Newcastle,” Davies said. “Jess is obviously a massive inspiration to me. She’s such a role model for the sport, and to be in a sprint finish with her is crazy.”

Hull, who was chasing a first Commonwealth medal, was generous about the runner who denied her gold. “I’ve been on teams with Rose for a long time now, and I’ve seen her rise over time,” Hull said. “The composure she had to hold me down the straight, that’s not easy to do when you have an athlete on your shoulder, and she did it with so much pride.”

What Comes Next

For Hull, the silver was not the end of her week. The Paris 2024 Olympic 1,500m silver medalist, who is far more comfortable at shorter distances, turned her focus to the mile final, the event these Games run in place of the 1,500m. “It almost just takes the pressure off for the mile now,” she said, having wanted a Commonwealth medal in hand before that race. Davies, meanwhile, was finished in Glasgow, free to let two gold medals and a slice of history settle in. Her double was one piece of a strong week for Australia, whose distance runners powered much of its haul at the top of the Glasgow medal table.