A whirlwind 12 months has seen Linden Hall go from being one of several Australian 1500 metre runner hopefuls for the Olympics, to being among the top 10 fastest runners in the world this year.
The former Riddells Creek resident, who has just returned to Melbourne after four years at college in America, couldn’t have imagined what this year would bring on the track.
“I finished my season last year in Europe running a big personal best,” she said.
“After that I started to sniff the Olympic qualifier, which was a huge motivator through the next few months of off-season training.”
That personal best didn’t last long, with Hall knocking off another 10 seconds to set an Olympic qualifier, the ninth fastest time of the year in the world and the third fastest Australian time everin 4min 01.78sec.
But despite achieving the required time, Hall, 25, had to wait until last month to officially be selected for Rio.
“The whole year has been a little bit unbelievable, I almost feel like I’ve been living in a fairy-tale,” she said.
“Since I ran the qualifying standard in May, I’ve gone to bed almost every night with the thought of realising this dream on my mind – I still almost cannot comprehend it’s actually happening.
“It was definitely a long wait and there were a few times when I was pretty stressed about it all.
“But I knew I had done absolutely everything to put myself in the best position for selection.
“I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read the selection email, just to make sure it’s real.”
Like many Australian athletes, Hall had dreamt of winning Olympic gold from a young age.
It was at Riddells Creek primary school where she fell in love with athletics.
“I always did pretty well in school sports events, and loved all sports – swimming, tennis, netball, running,” she said.
“I started giving running more attention when I made my first Victorian team in grade six.
“After finished 11th there, I joined a training group and athletics club and it all really grew from.”
Hall moved away from Riddells Creek when she was 16 and says she still has friends in the area.
“Now days, my only connection to the area is friends who live out that way,” she said.
“I received a fan message from some Riddells Creek Primary School students the other day. They had heard I went to school there, so that was pretty special.”
Hall said making the Olympic final would be a massive achievement.
“I want to leave Rio knowing I threw everything I had at my competition,” she said.
“I’m looking at taking each race at a time and, hopefully, that means making it all the way through to the final.
“That would be massive, it’s been a while since an Australian 1500 metre runner made it through to the finals.”
Hall said that after the Olympics said she would turn her attention to her university studies before focusing on trying to qualify for the World Championships.
