Luckless Australian Jessica Hull has just missed out on a spot in the women's 1500m final at the world athletics championships in Doha.
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The former US collegiate star stripped almost a second off her personal best, clocking four minutes 01.80 seconds to finish eighth in the second semi-final on Thursday night, with only the top seven advancing to the final.
Hull missed a spot in the final by only 0.28 seconds.
The top 11 finishers in her semi-final were all quicker than the victor of the first semi, Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan, who won the 10,000m gold medal earlier in the championships.
It was the fastest women's 1500m semi in world championships history.
Hull's compatriots Linden Hall (4:06.39) and Georgia Griffith (4:17.15) were also run out in the semis.
The leading qualifier was 2011 world champion Jenny Simpson from the United States in 4:00.99.
Australian Cedric Dubler improved from 14th position after day one of the decathlon to 11th with 8,101 points.
It was the best overall result by an Australian in an Olympic or world championships decathlon in 63 years.
The gold medal went to 21-year-old German Niklas Kaul (8,691 points) on his world championships debut.
World record holder Kevin Mayer from France was forced to retire with a hamstring injury midway through the pole vault.
Tasmanian Stewart McSweyn advanced to the semi-finals of the men's 1500m after finishing ninth in the quickest of the three opening-round heats in 3:36.88.
Earlier in the championships, the versatile McSweyn was 12th in the 5000m final.
His training partner Matthew Ramsden also claimed a place in the semis following a successful appeal after he was bumped over in the early stages of a rough-and-tumble second heat.
Ayanleh Souleiman from Djibouti was the fastest qualifier for the semi-finals on Friday evening (early Saturday AEST) in 3:36.16.
Australian record holder Ryan Gregson was eliminated in the opening round.
Australian Associated Press
