Hocker’s shocker in men’s Olympic 1500m
"I think most people in the race knew I was a competitor, same with Yared, but it was another thing to not have all that noise. I feel like I took advantage of it.”
By Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
It’s the kind of race that will be spoken about by enthusiasts of men’s middle-distance running – especially American ones – for years to come.
USA’s Cole Hocker spectacularly won the men’s 1500m – in an Olympic record, no less – to push World champion Josh Kerr to silver, while Hocker’s teammate Yared Nuguse claimed bronze in what will go down as one of the biggest upsets of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and arguably the greatest 1500m race ever.
Defending champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen missing the podium was perhaps a bigger surprise than Hocker winning the title.
Ingebrigtsen led the 1500m from the outset, setting a brisk pace that no one would be able to stick to (1:51 at 800 meters). Or at least that’s what he hoped. It didn’t quite play out that way, though, as Kenya’s Brian Komen tracked him for the first few laps, closely followed by Kerr.
When Ingebrigtsen started his big kick on the final lap, Kerr and the U.S. trio – Hocker, Nuguse and Hobbs Kessler – were all still close to the Norwegian. Kerr started to close on the final bend, but Hocker was gaining momentum on the pair and eventually passed them half way down the home straight.
After his initial charge was thwarted by Ingebrigtsen just before the final 100 meters, Hocker, 23, forged ahead, as Lane 1 opened up, to win in a lifetime best of 3:27.65. Kerr captured silver with a British record of 3:27.79. Nuguse set a PR of 3:27.80 for bronze, while Ingebrigtsen clocked 3:28.24 in fourth, the final man under the previous Olympic record, 3:28.32 by Ingebrigtsen, Tokyo 2020. National records were also set by 19-year-old Niels Laros of The Netherlands, 6th, and Pietro Arese of Italy, 8th, see below.
CREDIT: Getty Images
