American Cole Hocker ran the race of his young career on Tuesday by pulling off a come from behind win, taking gold and blowing past Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
The favorites in the race, all with faster times than Hocker this year, settled in and it seemed to be a question of what the final order would be for the three medals up for grabs.
But with less than 50m on the final straightaway, Hocker kicked and surged past the field with a 3:27.65, an Olympic record — and almost three seconds faster than his personal best.
Hocker’s stunning win electrified and already hyped crowd at Stade de France with early predictions for the race mostly focusing on Ingebrigtsen Great Britain’s Josh Kerr, who took silver in 3:27.79. American Yared Nuguse swooped in for the bronze in 3:27.80.
“Every part of me knew this was the Olympic final. I felt the magnitude of it,” Hocker said. “I knew what I had left and knew ‘oh I’m going to get a medal and I’m going to be and Olympic medalist — let’s get silver, let’s get gold'”
This was a return to gold for the Americans since Matt Centrowitz pulled off a gritty in Rio in 2016. And it is the first time two Americans will share the podium in the 1500m since 1912 in Stockholm.
Still, Hocker, 23, seemed poised for another breakout performance after displaying his late race heroics with a 3:30:59 at trials in July.
But in the final moments of Tuesday’s race, Hocker broke away from Kerr and locked taking the inside position from Ingebrigtsen, who finish in fourth (3:28.24).
“The headlines were about them and rightfully so — Olympic champion and world champion,” Hocker added. “The headlines made sense. But it can be nice to fly under the radar as much as I can in the Olympics. Most people in the race knew I was a competitor.”
Ingebrigtsen did not shy away from admitting defeat in Monday’s race. He has been outspoken about being the best among his competitors, even advising fellow runners to utilize his speed to achieve times they otherwise wouldn’t reach.
“Today, Cole Hocker, Yared Nuguse and Josh Kerr outsmarted me. They were ‘the best guys’ when it really mattered,” he said on social media. “Of course, I am disappointed!”
He added, “Running is the ultimate sport. Everyone can participate. Everyone can set their own goals and achieve them. All you need is to show up. Thank you also to all my competitors for putting on a great show today. Congratulations to the guys bringing home the medals!”
But on the race to the podium, Hocker had the final word and sensed that the title was is as he will not dominate the headlines.
“With 20 meters to go I felt like I knew had gold and I feel like I’ve lived that scenario a lot of times in trying to race and kick people down,” he said. “This time it just happened to be the Olympic final.”
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