Cole Hocker Won Gold for America: Men’s 1500m race was no less than a cinema. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics Men’s middle-distance running event was reduced to the rivalry between Kerr and Ingebrigtsen. You will get a glimpse of the hype by the millions of hashtags on social media platforms and TikTok videos asking which team you are in #TeamKerr or #TeamIngebrigtsen. The article released by the Olympics labeled this event “the competition is between the two fastest runners in the men’s 1500m”.
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The match wasn’t exactly rolled out as the rivals imagined as they both were in all talk shoe down before the event. Kerr said that Ingebrigtsen is surrounded by yes men to which Ingebrigtsen replied he could defeat the 2023 world champion blindfolded. They both made it clear they did not like each other. The defending Olympic champion and the world champion beef was exciting to watch and was the highlight of the event.
Amidst the wave of the showdown, no one predicted an underdog American athlete would hijack the event. Hocker was like lightning in the race he took up from 5th to 3rd place before overtaking Kerr. Cole Hocker scored a three-second personal best of 3:27.65 making him the 7th fastest athlete of the Olympics 2024.
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Ingebrigtsen broke his Olympic record in Paris but still, he came fourth shows how good these athletes are. “It was 100m too long. It’s not always easy to spend your energy wisely,” Ingebrigtsen told Eurosport after the race. “The pace is so fast the whole race, especially with me opening so strong, you can’t really tell, 100 percent when you’re hitting the wall before you hit it.”
“I’m so proud of myself. I executed the best 1500m race I’ve ever done, on the biggest stage, by over a second,” Kerr told Eurosport. “It’s difficult to control what anyone else does, but I controlled myself, I positioned myself well to win and go after medals. It wasn’t enough over the last 20 or 30 meters, but I got beaten by the better man. I have to walk away with my head held high”.
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