SAINT-DENIS, France — In a race billed as a duel between Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr, it was Indianapolis’ Cole Hocker who showed he is the best miler in the world.
As the two protagonists battled each other, Hocker rode the rail, found space, bolted to the lead and raised his hands in triumph at the finish of the 1,500 meters Tuesday night at the Paris Olympics.
His time of 3:27.65 was an Olympic record, an American record. Kerr was second in a British record of 3:27.79.
Notre Dame graduate Yared Nuguse also passed Ingebrigtsen, taking bronze in 3:27.80, just .01 from an American 1-2.
Ingebrigtsen, the defending gold medalist, was fourth in 3:28.24 — which was faster than the Olympic record he set in Tokyo three years ago.
In 3 1/2 minutes, Hocker, a Cathedral High School graduate, became one of Indiana’s greatest Olympians, joining the likes of Rey Ewry, Lee Calhoun, Oscar Robertson, Greg Bell, Mike Troy, David Boudia and Lilly King.
To be an Olympic gold medalist in the 1,500 is to add one’s name to greats going back a century: Paavo Nurmi, Herb Elliott, Peter Snell, Kip Keino, John Walker, Sebastian Coe, Noureddine Morceli and Hicham El Guerrouj.
Seven of the 12 finalists had already won a collective 15 global medals, five of them by the 23-year-old Ingebrigtsen. Nine had run under a 3:50 mile, seven under 3:49.
All three medalists from Tokyo 2021 were in it: Ingebrigtsen, gold; Timothy Cheruiyot, Kenya, silver; Kerr, bronze. Ingebrigtsen set an Olympic record of 3:28.32. Six men went under the previous record, including Hocker in sixth.
Before this race, Hocker had a career record of 0-7 vs. both Ingebrigtsen and Kerr. All of the pre-race hype, especially by NBC, cast the race as Ingebrigtsen vs. Kerr.
BetGM pre-race odds:
Ingebrigsten, -155; Kerr, +130; Hocker, +2,000; Nuguse, +2500. So Hocker was given a 4.5% chance to win, or a 21-to-1 shot.
Hocker became the sixth American since 1920 to medal in the 1,500. The others: Glenn Cunningham, silver, 1936; Bob McMillen, silver, 1952; Jim Ryun, silver, 1968; Leo Manzano, silver, 2012; Matthew Centrowitz, gold, 2016.
No Indiana runner in 120 years had won an Olympic medal at a distance longer than 400 meters.
In 1904, Muncie’s Jim Lightbody won golds in the 800, 1,500 and steeplechase, and Lacey Hearn of Portland, Ind., took the bronze in the 1,500. However, St. Louis was such a poorly attended Olympics that American men won 67 of a possible 73 medals in track and field.
Contact WTHR correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.
