Cole Hocker celebrates his 1500m win at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (© Dan Vernon)
Cole Hocker of the United States produced one of the great shocks of the Paris 2024 Games on Tuesday (6) as he won the 1500m title in an Olympic record of 3:27.65 after gatecrashing a party that was supposed to be all about bitter rivals Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the defending champion, and the Briton who had beaten the Norwegian to the world title a year earlier, Josh Kerr.
Kerr looked set to triumph once again as he repeated his Budapest tactic of overtaking Ingebrigtsen on the outside around the final bend and then pushing for home. But this time the picture was compounded by another presence in the inside lane – Hocker – and the Norwegian found himself assailed on both sides.
The 23-year-old from Indiana was flying, and while Kerr did everything he could to upgrade the bronze he had won behind Ingebrigtsen in Tokyo to gold, he could not resist the US runner and took silver in a national record of 3:27.79.
Meanwhile Ingebrigtsen, fading, came under pressure from a second US athlete, Yared Nuguse, who came through at the last for bronze in a personal best of 3:27.80.
Ingebrigtsen, who had hoped to become only the second man to win consecutive Olympic 1500m titles after Sebastian Coe’s victories in 1980 and 1984, clocked 3:28.24. Not even on the podium.
Hocker had made a quiet entrance to the arena, but he ran like a man possessed to take almost three seconds off his personal best of 3:30.59.
There was an echo in his performance of the surprise 1500m win by compatriot Matthew Centrowitz at the Rio 2016 Games. The latter had won the world indoor title earlier in the year; Hocker took silver at this year’s World Indoor Championships.
Three years ago Hocker beat Centrowitz at the US Trials, then finished sixth at the Olympics in a then PB of 3:31.40.
Asked after Sunday’s semifinals about what people should be expecting from tonight’s final, Kerr advised: “They should be expecting one of the most vicious and hardest 1500s the sport’s seen in a very long time.”
That they got. And it was brutal indeed for Ingebrigtsen. But who expected Hocker?
Well, Hocker did.
“That’s an unbelievable feeling,” he said. “I just felt like I was getting carried by the stadium and God. My body just kind of did it for me. My mind was all there and I saw that finish line.
“Winning gold was my goal this entire year. I wrote that down and I repeated it to myself even if I didn’t believe it.
“My performances showed me that I was capable of running 3:27, whatever it took. I knew I was a medal contender, and I knew that if I get it right, it would be a gold medal. I’ve been saying that.”
Asked about the media attention beforehand on the rivalry between Ingebrigtsen and Kerr, he added: “I kind of told myself that I’m in this race too. If they let me fly under the radar, then so be it. I think that might’ve just been the best.”
Kerr commented: “It’s difficult to look back on it now just because it’s been so crazy since the finish line. My ears are gone, my legs are gone. I’m proud of the performance I put out there today.
"I said to myself I’ll control my controllables, I did that today. I executed the fastest that I’ve ever run by almost two seconds. It wasn’t enough today. That’s sport. Of course, I was looking for that gold medal, but it’s a better medal than I got three years ago.”
Ingebrigtsen reflected: “It was the race I expected. I felt extremely good, and that’s why I pushed the pace a little too hard. Of course, it’s not what I was hoping for. I can only blame myself. It’s a difficult game, balancing your energy. It’s difficult to get 100% of that.
“The others did a great race. This was a risk I was going to take.”
The race had proceeded according to prediction, with European record-holder Ingebrigtsen taking the initiative from the start and pushing harder and harder. He led through 800m in 1:51.5 and 1200m in 2:47.3.
After passing the marker for two more laps, Ingebrigtsen had surged down the back straight and seemed momentarily to have detached himself from the elongated field, but Kenya’s Brian Komen bridged the gap with Kerr, impassive behind his shades, just at his shoulder, ideally placed to strike.
As the Norwegian heard the bell he pushed again, but again he could not get clear, and after the race rounded the final bend his ambitions fell apart as rivals streamed past him on either side.
The last time Kerr and Ingebrigtsen had met, other than Sunday’s semifinal, was over a mile at the Eugene Diamond League meeting in May, when Kerr won in a national record of 3:45.34.
“It’s a good fight,” Ingebrigtsen said after that race. “Some of my competitors have clearly taken a step in the right direction but not a big step – not as big of a step that maybe is needed to be the favourite in Paris.”
He may have been the favourite, but that is now immaterial.
It was the first time two US athletes had earned Olympic 1500m medals in the same race since 1912.
Fifth place went to the third US runner in the field, Hobbs Kessler, in a personal best of 3:29.45, with 19-year-old Niels Laros – mark that name – finishing sixth in a national record of 3:29.54.
Pietro Arese of Italy also set a national record of 3:30.74 in eighth place.
“It was absolutely phenomenal,” said Nuguse. “It’s like the exact kind of race I wanted, a really fast race where you can go all out and not be impeded by anything. Just like a crazy race for the finish. That’s exactly what I got today.
“My strategy was just roll with it, whatever happens. I know I’m strong enough, good enough to hang with any kind of pace. So if it’s that, hang with it, if it’s slow, get to the front. But it was very, very fast.
“This medal means everything. It’s a real pinnacle of our sport, being able to come to the world stage where everyone is performing at their absolute best. It’s so, so amazing and to share with a fellow American makes it even better.”
Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics
| MEN'S 1500m MEDALLISTS | ||
| 🥇 | Cole Hocker (USA) | 3:27.65 OR |
| 🥈 | Josh Kerr (GBR) | 3:27.79 NR |
| 🥉 | Yared Nuguse (USA) | 3:27.80 PB |
| Full results | ||
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